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SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 



SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS : 



ESSAYS ILLUSTRATIVE OF 



Scottish Life, History and Character. 



RY 



PETER ROSS, 

Author o/^^A Life of Saint Andrew^'' etc. 





NKW YORK : 
"Scottish- American" Oi^fice, it^ Rose Street. 






^>^ 



Copyright, 1889, by Peter Ross. 



IBIUftTl 

lfOftM«f 



THE LIBMftT 
or C01fOftM«i 



\ 

V 

i 

PRINTED 
At THE OFFICE OF THE 

SCOTTISH-AMERICAN,' 
New York. 



I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME TO 

CAPT. J. B. WHITE, 

FORT WAYNE, IND., 

MEMBER OF CONGRESS FROM FORT WAYNE, WHO, 
AS A MERCHANT, SOLDIER, AND LEGISLATOR, HAS 
PROVED HIMSELF A TYPICAL REPRESENTATIVE OF 
THE SCOT IN AMERICA, WHILE HIS ACTIVE 
INTEREST IN EVERYTHING RELATING TO THE 
LAND OF HIS BIRTH SHOWS THAT IT STILL 
RETAINS HIS REVERENT LOVE. 



PREFACE. 



In the following pages I have gathered together several 
articles concerning Scotland and Scotsmen which are likely 
to be read with some interest on this side of the Atlantic. 
The first article is a reproduction, with considerable additions, 
of an essay written for the Canadian- American of Chicago, 
and some of the others have appeared, in whole or in part, 
in the Scottish-American of New York. While a represent- 
ative Scot in the present day has shown to the world what 
triumphant democracy has accomplished, it may not be out 
of place for another Scot to indicate how much his coun- 
trymen have assisted in bringing about that triumph, and 
also to demonstrate that, whether under the Stars and Stripes 
in the United States, or beneath the Union Jack in the 
Dominion of Canada, Scotsmen have taken, and are taking, 
an active part in all the movements that are designed to 
maintain the religious and political freedom of the people 
and to promote their material and intellectual progress. 

In connection with the article on the Union of 1707 I 
have reprinted in full the text of the famous Treaty. This 
important document is more talked about than read at the 
present day, but, as it is the charter on which the modern 
liberties of Scotland are based, it is deserving of being closely 
studied and thoroughly understood by every one for whom 
the history of Scotland has any attraction. 

It has several times been suggested to me that the pub- 
lication of these articles would prove acceptable to Scotsmen 
and their descendants, and in the hope that the suggestion 
is a wise one I send forth this little volume. 

PETER ROSS. 

New York, February, 1889. 



CONTENTS. 



Dedication v 

Preface vii 

The Scot in America i 

The Scot Abroad ...... 45 

Scottish Characteristics. — Persevering — Ambitious 

— Logical — Thoughtful . . . . S6 
Some more Characteristics. — Religious — Poetic — 

Brave — Honest — Conservative . . io8 

Scottish Anniversaries and Holidays . . 127 

Scottish Superstitions 140 

Scottish Sports 162 

Robert Burns and Freemasonry . . . 179 

The Union Treaty . .... 201 

Noblemen I have Known .... 235 



SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 

SINCE the year 1603, when James, "the sapient and 
sext," ascended the throne of England and became the 
first ruler of Britain, America has been a happy hunting 
ground for Scotsmen. The Scot has penetrated into every 
section of the continent and made himself equally at home 
in the glades of Florida, on the prairies of the West, or 
among the wilds over which the Hudson Bay Company once 
held almost sovereign sway. He is generally supposed to 
be a good, quiet, peaceable citizen, a sturdy upholder of 
civil and religious liberty, a firm believer in education, 
honesty, perseverance, and several other virtues necessary 
to build up a new country. He is also regarded as a man 
whose mere word is as good as his bond, an energetic 
yet cautious trader, with a stern, unbending spirit which 
enables him to overcome many difficulties, a man possessed 
of a cool, calculating brain which permits him to peer fur- 
ther into the future than many others, and inspires him to 
press ahead of his time and engage in schemes which seem 
ridiculous at the moment, but yield a rich return in the end. 
The railroad magnate of Milwaukee, Hon. Alexander 
Mitchell, who died in 1887, laid many a mile of road long 
before it could command traffic enough to defray even run- 
ning expenses. But he forecast the future, and his Aber- 
donian shrewdness brought him a golden return. So, too, 
old Robert Lenox, when he bought his ^' Five-mile Farm " 
in 1 81 7, and paid for it a price which appeared ridiculously 
extravagant, foresaw that New York had a grand future 
before it, and that his purchase was sure to be the centre of 
the city. How true this forecast was, every New Yorker 
of the present day knows. The farm consisted of about 
thirty acres, and lay between Fourth and Fifth avenues and 



2 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

68th and 74th streets. The price paid was $6,920. On it 
now stands a large number of the most magnificent mansions 
in the city. On it are also the Lenox Library, the Presby- 
terian Hospital, the Presbyterian Home for Aged Women, 
and the Phillips' Memorial Church, all evidences of the gen- 
erous disposition and public spiritedness of the owners of the 
old farm. The property to-day is estimated as being worth 
not less than $14,000,000. It is gratifying to know that so val- 
uable a property fell into the hands of such prudent, careful 
managers, as the Lenox family proved. They certainly gave 
abundant evidence by their generous bequests to litera- 
ture, education and charity, that the Scottish instincts of 
their ancestors in the old Stewarty did not die out when 
transplanted to this side of the Atlantic. 

One of the earliest attempts at settlement, in which Scots- 
men took part, was that which was organized in 1622 under 
the auspices of the Earl of Stirling. That '* philosophic 
poet " was one of the most subservient followers of the 
British Solomon, James I., and so far as paper grants, or as 
the Duke of Argyll would call them '' Land Charters," were 
concerned, was probably the most extensive land owner 
the world has yet seen. Between them. King James I. and 
his son, Charles L, gave him grants of territory which included 
Acadia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Cape 
Breton, Province of Quebec, Maine, New Hampshire, 
Vermont, and the greater part of Pennsylvania and New 
York. The titles were vague enough in defining the western 
boundaries of his estate, that he might, had he so chosen, 
have written his name on the map, as far away to the west as 
the Pacific. The end of this great Scotsman affords a good 
instance of a man being land-poor, for, in spite of his vast 
estate, he died at London a bankrupt, in 1640. In 1622, 
however, he was at the height of his success, and persuaded 
a ship load of emigrants to cross the Atlantic with a view of 
settling in Nova Scotia. According to Dr. Charles Rogers, 
in his '' Lives of the Earls of Stirling," the emigrants were 
mainly from Kirkcudbright. The inducements held out were 
very meagre and only one artisan, a blacksmith, and one 
person of education — a Presbyterian minister — joined the 
expedition. The other emigrants were agricultural laborers 
of the poorest grade. A storm sent the vessel to Newfound- 
land, where a large number of the travelers engaged in the 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 3 

fisheries. Next year several of them managed to get as 
far as Nova Scotia, and after a few weeks of inspection 
returned to Britain and circulated very favorable accounts 
of the new country. Lord Stirling himself published a 
volume in 1625 under the title of '*An Encouragement for 
Colonies," in which he lauds his domain of Nova Scotia to 
the skies. His son, Lord Alexander, often visited Canada in 
the promotion of his father's and his own interests. In 1633 
he received a royal patent for thirty-one years '' for the sole 
trade in all and singular the regions, countries, dominions 
and all places adjacent to the river and gulf of Canada, 
and the sole traffic from thence and the places adjoining for 
beaver skins and wool and all other skins of wild beasts." 
It is interesting to note in passing that in one of the patents 
or charters issued to this enterprising young Scot, Long 
Island was ordered to be called henceforward '^ the Isle of 
Stirling." 

In the more southern part of the continent we find many 
traces of the Scotch among the early planters and settlers. 
In Boston, Mass., as early as 1657, twenty years after the 
city was founded, the Scotch were numerous enough and 
wealthy enough to organize a benevolent society, for the 
purpose of aiding any of their fellow-countrymen who might 
be in distress. That organization, the Scots' Charitable 
Society, still exists, and continues to carry on a grand work 
of charity. The Scottish population of early Boston was 
once augmented in a curious way. In 1652 the ship "John 
and Sarah " arrived in the harbor, having on board 272 
Scotsmen who had been taken prisoners, at the battle of 
Dunbar, by Oliver Cromwell. They with some 800 others 
had been shipped to the American colonies as the shortest 
and easiest way of disposing of them. Those who landed in 
Boston soon recovered their freedom and many became 
prosperous citizens, prosperous enough to entertain a kindly 
thought in their hearts for those of their number who had 
been less fortunate. In speaking of this society, the Scots' 
Charitable, at an anniversary meeting in 1882, Hon. F. O. 
Prince, ex-Mayor of Boston, said : " It is a remarkable fact 
that this society should have been founded at a period so 
early in the history of Boston. Established only twenty- 
seven years after the landing of Winthrop and the first settlers 
— it is the oldest of our institutions — except Harvard College, 



4 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

the first church, and the first school — all of which, like this 
venerable organization, still live, as if possessed of immortal 
youth, and still continue their useful work with unabated 
zeal and success; proof conclusive that their foundations 
were well laid and stPongly fixed in the affections of the 
people. Although the records are silent as to the fact, it is 
probable that the founders were prompted to their work by 
the needy and impoverished condition of the Scotch prisoners 
taken by Cromwell in the sanguinary battles of Dunbar and 
Worcester in 1650, and sent here to prevent further trouble 
to the Government by the victor from their loyalty and devo- 
tion to the cause of their unfortunate king. A Scotch 
charitable society was established in London under a charter 
granted by Charles soon after the Restoration, and it is 
probable that the immediate cause for organizing it was the 
relief of those Scottish Covenanters, or their descendants, 
who had suffered in the cause of the king, had been taken 
prisoners in battle, and were wandering about the metropolis 
in great poverty and unable to get home, if indeed the wars 
had left them any homes in Scotland. The number of 
Scotch emigrants who came over ■ with the first colonists, 
or with those who arrived previous to 1650, was not sufficient 
to call for a society like this, and but for the arrival of the 
prisoners it is not probable that it would have been founded 
so early in our history." 

The early history of Virginia (as of all the States) is full 
of references to Scotsmen and their doings. Alexander 
Spotswood, who was appointed Governor in 17 10, was a 
typical representative of the Scot abroad. His grandfather 
was Sir Alexander Spotswood, " Secretary of Scotland," and 
his father was a surgeon in the British service. The future 
governor was born at Tangier, Morocco, in 1676, and was 
left an orphan by the death of his father in 1688. He 
entered the army, served under Marlborough, and was 
wounded at the battle of Blenheim in 1704. He brought 
to Virginia the great wTit of habeas corpus, a concession 
from the home authorities which the people of Virginia had 
long asked for. His government of the colony was wise, 
firm and progressive. He tried to evangelize the Indians, 
added considerably to the territory under his rule, and in- 
troduced the postal system. Spotswood was probably the 
most noteworthy of all the early governors of Virginia, and 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 5 

his administration was in every respect a creditable and 
honest one. He died in 1740, just as he was about to sail 
for the West Indies with a commission as a major-general in 
the British army. Another Scotch governor of Virginia was 
Robert Dinwiddie, who entered upon his duties in 1752 and 
reigned for six years. He took quite a fancy for George 
Washington and appointed him adjutant-general of one of 
the military divisions of the colony. Dinwiddie, however, 
was not a popular governor and pretty hard things were said 
about him when he retired. The last British governor of 
Virginia was the Earl of Dunmore, who was transferred to 
that position from New York. He was not a favorite, doubt- 
less for the reason that he was not on the popular side in 
the troubles of the Revolution. The most memorable act 
of his reign was the destruction, by his order, of Norfolk, Va. 

In 1682 a large tract of land in New Jersey was purchased 
for colonizing purposes by a British company, most of whom 
were Quakers. The leader was Robert Barclay, of Ury, 
Kincardineshire, the celebrated author of the work common- 
ly spoken of as '^ An Apology for the Quakers," although its 
title, in accordance with the fashion of the time, was much 
more elaborate. Barclay was named as the governor of 
the colony, but he never visited it, and the real ruler 
was his deputy, Gavin Laurie, another Scot. Through 
the exertions of this gentleman the place known as Ambo 
Point was in 1684 formed into a town and named Perth Am- 
boy, in honor of James, Earl of Perth, one of the stockhold- 
ers in the company. The location for commercial purposes 
was an admirable one, and it was fondly thought that it 
would become the most important town on the northern 
seaboard. It was laid out on a definite plan, suitable to a 
place with such possibilities, and thirty-six acres of land 
were given to each of forty-eight proprietors, one-third of 
whom were natives of Scotland. 

The most noted of these colonists was George Keith, a 
native of Aberdeen. In his youth he had been a Presbyte- 
rian, but from sincere conviction he became a Quaker, and for 
a time was tutor in the family of Robert Barclay at Ury. 
When the colony was organized, Keith came over to this 
country, and, through Barclay's influence, was appointed 
in 1684, Surveyor-General of New Jersey. He founded the 
town of Freehold, and marked out the division line between 



6 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

East and West Jersey. In 1689 he was invited to become 
superintendent of the city school of Philadelphia, and 
accepted the invitation. For a time he was the most promi- 
nent Quaker in the "City of Brotherly Love "as he was a 
good preacher, a ready speaker and a graceful writer. His 
disposition, however, was far from being gentle ; in his 
manner he was self-assertive and dogmatic, and in debate 
he could be cruel and sarcastic, often without cause. These 
qualifications, after a time, made him enemies even among 
the people of his own persuasion, and he openly quarrelled 
with all the local Quaker preachers, and denounced the 
officials of the city loudly and bitterly for something which 
displeased him. This led to his being charged with sedition, 
and, as a seditious person, his name was proclaimed in the 
market-place by the town-crier. In 1694 he went to 
London, and complained to the General Meeting of the 
Quakers' of his treatment m Philadelphia, but his language 
lost hull any favor. In disgust, he joined the Church of 
England, and returned to this country in 1702 as a mission- 
ary from that body. In this capacity he was not a success, 
and he went back to England, where he died in 1708. 

In 1686, Gavin Laurie resigned his governorship, and Neil 
Campbell, a brother to the then Earl of Argyll, succeeded 
him. Two years later, he was followed by Andrew Hamil- 
ton, another Scot, and a man of great ability. He was the 
author of the earliest scheme for introducing postal roads 
and post-offices into the colonies. He afterward became 
Lieutenant-Governor of Pennsylvania, and his son became 
the first native born governor of that commonwealth. Penn- 
sylvania had another Scotch governor, Thomas McKean, 
and the city of Philadelphia has had at least three Scotch 
mayors, Peter McCall, Morton McMichael and W. B. Smith. 
Gabriel Johnston, Governor of South Carolina from 1734 to 
1752, was a native of Scotland, and received his education 
mainly at St. Andrew's University, Another Scotch gov- 
ernor of that State was Lord William Campbell, a scion of 
the Argyll family, who died while leading an expedition 
against the colonists in 1778. Both the Carolinas were 
popular settling places for Scottish immigrants almost from 
the beginning of their history, and only a few years ago a 
large number of Scottish agriculturists, principally crofters, 
were induced to cross the Atlantic and begin life again as 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 7 

farmers in North (Carolina. The movement was a compara- 
tive failure, however. The canny Scots had no money with 
which to carry out the needed improvements on the land, 
the land itself was worn out and unsuitable for crops with 
which the Highlanders were acquainted, and the people 
among whom they settled were too poor to help them much. 

The State of New York was a favorite section for early 
colonizing bodies of Scots. In 1738 a large body of High- 
landers, under the leadership of Captain Lachlan Campbell, 
arrived in New York and settled on the shores of Lake 
George, which, it was understood, they were to guard against 
French inroads. They numbered 423 adults and many chil- 
dren, and included over 80 families. Almost as soon as 
they were settled on their lands trouble began. Campbell 
averred that he had sold his estate in Scotland for the pur- 
pose of defraying the passage of the colonists and that they 
were bound to render him service in return. But the 
Highlanders claimed that they had left Scotland just to es- 
cape working for lairds like Campbell. The feud between 
them became very bitter and brought disaster on both par- 
ties. Campbell was ruined, and tHe colonists were starving 
when the legislature interfered and made provision for tiding 
the settlers over the winter. Some of them left the country 
and entered the military service of Britain. Those who re^ 
mained, however, appear to have prospered ultimately. Re- 
ferring to this colony, Mr. E. H. Roberts, in his " History of 
New York," says (vol. i, p. 280)— ^' By this immigration the 
province secured a much needed addition to its population, 
and these Highlanders must have sent messages home not 
altogether unfavorable ; for they proved the pioneers of a 
multitude whose coming in successive years was to add 
strength and industry and thrift and intelligence to the com- 
munities in which they set up their homes." 

Many of the towns throughout the State were founded by 
Scots. That of Patterson, Putnam countv, for instance, 
was settled mainly by Scotch and New England Presbyte- 
rians about 1750. That the former was the preponderating 
element may be mferred from the fact that the town was named 
in honor of Matthew Patterson, a Scotch mason, who came 
to New York before the old French war. As a captain of 
volunteers he served under General Abercrombie in the 
northern campaigns against the French, and at the Rev- 



8 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

olution he took the side of the colonial Whigs. He was nine 
times elected a member of the New York legislature, and 
for nine years was a county judge. Patterson purchased 
1 60 acres of land which had belonged to a forfeited estate 
and built on it a fine mansion, where he dispensed a gener- 
ous hospitality and enjoyed the society of the McLeans, 
Grants, Frasers, Flemings and other Scottish families in the 
neighborhood. 

The town of Bath, Steuben county, was founded in 1793 
by Captain Charles Williamson, the *' Baron of the Back 
Woods," as he was popularly called. Williamson was the 
son of Alexander Williamson, of Balgray, Dumfriesshire, and 
was born at Edinburgh in 1757. He entered the army in 
1775 as an ensign and rose in the service until he became a 
captain in the 25th Regiment. In that capacity he sailed 
for this country to take part in the war of the Revolution, 
but the vessel was captured by a French privateer and he 
found himself a prisoner in Boston. He was permitted to 
board in that city and lost his heart to the daughter of the 
lady at whose house he resided. They were married in 1781, 
and soon after the Yankee bride accompanied her husband 
to Scotland. In 1791 Sir William Pulteney, John Hornby, 
Patrick Colquhoun, Lord Provost of Glasgow, and others, 
formed an association and purchased a tract of 1,200,000 
acres of land in New York with the view of colonizing and 
improving it. Williamson was appointed manager of the 
association and sailed again for this country in. the Fall of 
1 79 1. In February next year, he visited the land of which 
he was manager, and selected a site for a town on the Gene- 
see river which he called Williamsburgh. In June he com- 
menced operations in earnest and by November had complet- 
ed thirty miles of good wagon roads through the wilder- 
ness. His great achievement was the founding of the town 
of Bath, which he laid out on a broad plateau on the Con- 
chocton river. He thought it a magnificent site for a great 
city which was to monopolize the trade of western New 
York. Others thought so too, and the place was soon 
crowded with merchants, speculators and adventurers of 
every description. Williamson's energy was remarkable. 
He opened roads and streets, started newspapers, erected 
hotels, built a theatre and laid out a race-course. Every- 
thing was in readiness for a great city, but Williamson 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 9 

learned from experience that cities are not made to order, as 
so many enthusiastic people have discovered in this country 
since. After a while the association became disheartened at 
the poor prospect of immediate return for their outlay, but 
Williamson never despaired and he identified himself with 
the estate in every way. For three terms he represented 
Steuben county in the legislature, and was a county judge, 
as well as a colonel of militia. His hospitality was deemed 
wonderful even in those days, when hospitality was the rule 
in all American settlements. He entertained everyone who 
came along, from the Duke De La Rochefoucault to the 
Scottish wanderer in search of work or a home. In 1801 
his agency was revoked, as the association had become tired 
of waiting for a dividend upon the capital invested. Wil- 
liamson returned to Scotland in 1806 or 1807 and secured 
an appointment as commissioner of some sort to Jamaica, 
but died of yellow fever on the passage from New Orleans 
to that island in September, 1808. The last few years of 
his life appear to have been clouded by domestic troubles 
although the details are not known. 

In the early history of the State of New York, we find 
many traces of the active influence of Scotsmen in the 
management of its affairs. One of its governors was 
Robert Hunter, a native of Scotland, who had previously 
been governor of Virginia. In 17 12 he established the 
Court of Chancery, and in several respects his administra- 
tion was as successful as that of any of the other rulers sent 
over from Britain prior to the Revolution. John Mont- 
gomerie, of the noble Ayrshire family of Eglinton, was 
governor between 1728 and 1731. In 1769, a Scotch noble- 
man, the Earl of Dunmore, was appointed governor, but 
held the office only a short time, for in 1770 he was trans- 
ferred to the governorship of Virginia. Another Scotch 
governor of New York was General James Robertson, 
who made himself conspicuous in the campaign against 
Louisburg and Ticonderoga, and led a brigade at the 
battle of Long Island. As he was appointed governor in 
1779, after the colonies had severed the connection with 
the mother country, his authority in the State was merely 
nominal. He was a brave soldier and an amiable man. 
The real ruler of the State of New York during the fifteen 
years immediately preceding the Revolution was Cadwallader 



lO SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Golden, a native of Dunse, Berwickshire, who served most of 
that time as Heutenant-governor. The Livingstone family 
at that period exercised a great amount of influence in shap- 
ing the destinies of the Empire State, and their descendants 
even to the present day rank among the foremost residents 
of the metropolitan city. They claim descent from the old 
Scotch baronial family of Livingstone, but their immediate 
and noblest ancestor was sturdy John Livingstone, a minis- 
ter of Ancrum, a man who spent his later years in exile on 
the continent of Europe, rather than permit his conscience to 
yield to what he believed to be wrong. Robert Livingstone, 
son of this true " Scotch worthy," was born at Ancrum in 
1654, and emigrated when a youth to this country. He 
settled at Albany, and bought from the Indians a tract of 
some 160,000 acres of land on the banks of the Hudson ; 
and this became the lordship of Livingstone. His descen- 
dants were all more or less famous. Robert was a judge in 
the Supreme Court of New York. A grandson, Edward, was 
one of the foremost lawyers of his time, drew up the *' Civil 
Code of Louisiana," was Secretary of State for Foreign 
Affairs and Minister Plenipotentiary to France. When he 
died in 1836, he was regarded as one of the foremost citi- 
zens of this country. A brother of Edward's was also at 
one time Minister Plenipotentiary to France, helped Fulton 
to construct his first steamboat and in many ways proved 
himself to be a benefactor to his country. Philip Living- 
stone, another member of the family, who died -in 1778, was 
one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ; and 
another was a member of the Continental Congress in 1774. 
Truly, the good old minister of Ancium left a brave stock 
to take part in the building up of this great republic. 

It is singular in glancing among the names of the Scottish 
merchants w^ho carried on business in New York in all the 
troublous years prior to and during the Revolution, to find 
how many of their descendants continue at the present 
day to ^' bear the honors and inherit the virtues of their 
ancestors." The Johnstons, Middletons, Morris', Coldens, 
Hamiltons, Alexanders, Sadlers, Kennedys, Shaws, Ruther- 
ford s. Ram says and Barclays, still rank among the foremost 
families in New York, and are regarded as equal in point of 
birth with the representatives of the still older Knicker- 
bocker families. The direct descendant of John Watts, one 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. M 

of these early Scottish merchants, is the present Marquis of 
Ailsa. 

In the history of the City of New York, especially in its 
commercial affairs, the Scot has from the first taken a prom- 
inent part,and on this theme alone an interesting volume might 
be written. In religious matters he has always been active, 
and the Presbyterianism he introduced has long outdis- 
tanced the Protestant Dutch Church of the Knickerbockers. 
In the practical work of the building up of the city he has 
been foremost, and much of the architectural beauty which 
New York possesses is due to his skill and handiwork. The 
architect of old St. Paul's Church, at the corner of Vesey 
street and Broadway, was a Scotsman named McBean, of 
whom little is now known, but from the fact that he was 
chosen for such an important work he must have held at the 
time a leading position in his profession, and doubtless 
many of the best amongst the New York edifices of that 
day were designed by him. The foundation stone was laid 
in 1764. Long after its erection Dr. Berrian wrote of St. 
Paul's as follows: — '* In beauty of design, justness of pro- 
portion and tasteful embellishment it was unequaled at the 
time throughout our country, and in this style of architecture 
has not been surpassed to the present day." The interior 
much resembles St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London, built by 
Gibbs, of whom McBean is believed to have been a pupil. 
St, Paul's Church is now the only church edifice in New 
York still standing on its original site. At its dedication 
were present the Mayor, Whitehead Hicks, General Gage 
and the Governor, Sir Henry Moore, who introduced his 
band of music, not without some hesitation on the part of 
the vestry, who permitted it solely on condition that " noth- 
ing unsuited to the solemnity of the occasion should be 
performed." The old City Hall, a beautiful structure, was 
built by Alexander McComb, a Scot, after whom McComb's 
Dam, in what is now the upper part of the city, was named. 
This architect appears to have been very prosperous, for he 
owned an immense tract of land including part of the 
Adirondacks in Northern New York. Another Scot, 
Peter Fleming, a civil engineer, laid out the upper portion of 
the city as it is to-day. Fleming also laid out the Hudson 
and Mohawk Railroad, between Albany and Schenectady, 
the first railway in the State. Mr. Fleming afterwards be- 



12 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

came Surveyor-General of Ontario, and there laid out the 
best and most complete system of common roads which is to 
be found in America. Most of the older stone buildings in 
New York were designed and built by Scotsmen, and as 
artisans the Scotch builders long had almost a monopoly of 
work of that class, in which, even to the present day, they 
are regarded as pre-emment. 

In the struggle of the Revolution, Scotsmen, and the im- 
mediate descendants of Scotsmen, took an active part. Sev- 
eral of them signed the Declaration of Independence, and 
one of their number, Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, a native of 
Yester, near Edinburgh, is generally supposed to have had 
a considerable share in the compilation of that document. 
Dr. Witherspoon was a g-ood representative of the fighting 
priests of the Middle Ages. In the Congress at which the 
Declaration was signed he sat in the full clerical costume of 
the time, Geneva gown and bands, and his ringing, patriotic 
words did much to confirm and strengthen those who were 
inclined to falter in taking the decisive step of separation. 
When the war was over and freedom was assured, he quietly 
resumed his duties at Princeton, and his wise government 
fairly started that seat of learning in its popular career. The 
memory of this truly great man has since been held in ven- 
eration by the people of this country, and his magnificent 
statue in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, is one of the two 
Scottish shrines in the "City of Brotherly Love." The other 
is a flat, time-worn tombstone in the old burying ground 
around the Swedish Church, beneath which rest the remains 
of Alexander Wilson, the Paisley poet and American ornith- 
ologist. The statesman of the Revolution was Alexander 
Hamilton, a genius of Scottish descent, whose untimely 
death at Weehawken, in a duel with Aaron Burr, is one of 
the most painful tragedies in the history of the United 
States. 

Judge James Wilson was a native of Scotland who did 
much to further the cause of Independence. He took a 
prominent part in the discussions which took place before 
the Revolution, and was a member of Congress in 1775. In 
1789 he was made a judge of the United States Supreme 
Court and a year later was appointed professor of law in the 
University of Pennsylvania. Another Scotch professor of 
that time, who did good service to the cause of liberty, was 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. I3 

Peter Wilson, teacher of classics in Columbia College from 
1789 to 1820. He served for several years in the New Jer- 
sey legislature, and his published works betoken his ripe 
scholarship. In the graveyard of Hackensack, New Jersey, 
there is a monument erected to the memory of this worthy 
old Scot. On it is the following inscription : — 

" In memory of Peter Wilson, LL.D., who was born in the parish of Ardignhill, in 
Banffshire, Scotland, Nov. 23d, 1744, and emigrated to this country in 1763. For 
many years he was the efficient and successful principal of the Academy in this place, 
and afterwards m Flatbush, L. I., and for twenty-six years officiated as professor of 
languages in Columbia College. A zealous and successful patriot and Christian, and 
exemplary in all the public, social and domestic relations which he sustained, he 
closed a life of indefatigable activity and constant usefulness on the ist of August, 
1825. ' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.' " 

In the war itself, Scotsmen, as may be supposed, took an 
active part. William Alexander, who claimed the title of 
Earl of Stirling, and was addressed as such by Washington 
and others, was regarded one of the most brilliant of the 
Continental generals, and deserves mention also as one of the 
founders of Columbia College. Lachlan Mcintosh, a native 
of Inverness, where he was born in 1727, took an active part 
in the war, in which he was one of the foremost representa- 
tives of his adopted state of Georgia. A duel which he 
fought with Button Gwinnett, one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, and in which the latter was 
mortally wounded, interfered with his usefulness in the army, 
and in 1778 Washington appointed him commander-in-chief 
of the Western Department with headquarters at Pittsburgh, 
Pa. His military career, which was a brilliant one, closed 
with the surrender of Charleston to the British in 1780. 
General Mcintosh died in poverty at Savannah, Ga., in 1806. 
Alexander McDougall, a Scotch printer in New York, served 
through the war and made a brilliant record. He was pres- 
ent at the battles of Germantown and White Plains, rose to 
the rank of major-general and in 1781 was sent to Congress. 
Arthur Sinclair, or Saint Clair, a Thurso man, had a life as 
interesting as that of any hero of romance. By his gallant 
services at Princeton, Trenton and other places, he was raised 
to the rank of major-general. At Ticonderoga he was 
forced to surrender to Burgoyne, and lost his popularity and 
his command. Afterwards he served as a volunteer with 
Washington with such gallantry that he regained his former 
prestige. He was president of the Continental Congress in 
1787, and in 1788 was made first governor of the Northwest 



14 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Territory. Then misfortune again overtook him, and he 
resigned in 1792. He died in 1818, poor and forgotten ])y 
the country he had adopted and served so well. Another 
hero of the war was Hugh Mercer, a native of Aberdeen. 
He had a wonderful career. His first active service was as 
a surgeon in the army of Prince Charlie in the Jaco"l)ite re- 
bellion of 1745. When that turmoil ended on the Muir of 
Culloden, Mercer came to America and settled as a physi- 
cian near what is now known as Mercersburg, Pa. But war 
was his real trade. He took part in many of the Pennsyl- 
vania colonial campaigns, and received a medal for bravery 
from the City of Philadelphia. At the beginning of the 
Revolution he was settled at Fredericksburg, Va. He at 
once organized the famous Minute Men of Virginia, and en- 
tered heart and soul into the struggle. Congress appointed 
him a major-general in 1776, and next year, while leading 
a night march on Trenton, N. J., he was mortally wounded 
at Princeton. His funeral at Philadelphia was attended by 
over 30,000 people. Robert Erskine, chief engineer on the 
staff of General Washington, was a son of one of Scotland's 
most famous divines, the Rev. Ralph Erskine of Dunferm- 
line. Washington appreciated highly the services and 
character of this officer, and when he died placed a stone 
over his grave at Greenwood, N. J. This stone with its in- 
scription may still be seen, where it was laid by order of his 
grateful and kindly commander-in-chief. 

The first muskets ever made in this country were 
manufactured at Bridgewater, Mass., by Hugh Orr in 
1748. Orr was born at Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, in 17 17, 
and came here in 1740. He established himself in business 
as a maker of scythes and agricultural implements at Bridge- 
water, and was as successful as the times would allow. He 
invented several machines which were remarkably useful. 
During the Revolution he made the iron and brass cannons 
and cannon balls for the Federal Government. 

Paul Jones, or rather John Paul, the naval hero of the 
Revolution, was a native of Kirkcudbright. Unlike the other 
Scots who took part in the struggle, however, he can hardly 
be regarded as a patriot, but rather as a soldier — or sailor — 
of fortune. His sword was equally at the disposal of the 
Republican Congress of the United States, or the autocratic 
government of the Empress Catherine of Russia. Jones 



THE SCOT Ix\ AMERICA. 1 5 

was born at Arbigland, on the Scottish side of the Solway 
Firth, in 1747. When twelve years of age he was appren- 
ticed to a merchant in Whitehaven, who was engaged in the 
American trade. His first voyage was to Virginia, where 
his elder brother was established as a planter. At the com- 
mencement of the Revolutionary war he entered the Colonial 
service as a lieutenant in the navy in 1775, and is believed 
to have hoisted the first American flag. He was apponited 
a captain in 1776, and in the following year he sailed for 
Europe. Whilst there he harrassed the coasting trade of 
Scotland, and made a bold attack upon Whitehaven. He 
also made an attempt to carry off the Earl of Selkirk from 
his estate in St. Mary's Isle, but in this he was frustrated by 
the absence of the earl in London. His object in making 
this attempt was to force the British Government to agree to 
a system of exchanging prisoners, which they had previously 
l)een reluctant to do. The crew, however, plundered the 
house of all its silver plate. Lady Selkirk received, a few 
days after, a letter from Jones, in which he entreated her 
pardon for the late affront, assuring her that, so far from 
having been suggested or sanctioned by him, he had exerted 
his influence in order to prevent* its taking place ; but his 
officers and crew had insisted on the enterprise. He added 
that he would endeavor to buy the plunder they had so 
disgracefully brought away, and transmit the whole, or so 
much as he could obtain, to her. Several years elapsed 
without hearing anything from Jones, and all hope of realiz- 
ing his promises had vanished ; but in the spring of the year 
1783, the whole of the plate was returned, carriage paid, 
precisely in the same condition in which it had been carried 
away, and to every appearance without having ever been 
unpacked. On the 23d of September, 1779, the great naval 
battle took place off Flamborough Head, when Paul Jones, 
commanding the American war vessel ^' Bon Homme 
Richard," captured the British frigate '' Serapis." It was 
the greatest naval victory gained on the jiart of America in 
the War of Independence. On his return to the United 
States in 1781, Jones was received with high honors. Con- 
gress voted him a gold medal, and Washington sent him a 
complimentary letter. His latter years were spent in Paris, 
where he died in 1792. 

If we turn to Canada in these early times we find the Scot 



l6 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

also prominently engaged in every movement for building 
up the resources of the country. Indeed a story told of a 
later period might well be applied to Canada in the last half 
of the eighteenth century. It was said that a Yankee visiting 
Ontario, concluded that he really was in Scotland, for the 
Queen's representative was a Scot ; the prime minister was a 
Scot ; the members of the cabinet he met were Scots ; he 
heard the Doric spoken in all the Government offices, saw 
that all the large stores were owned by Macs, and that a large 
number of the towns he passed on the Grand Trunk Railway 
bore Scottish names. This recalls another story which tells 
us that a bluff English settler, after a general election, when 
told that Mackenzie was out, replied, " Yes, but Macdonald's 
in. Confound them, they're all Macs." The Scot seems 
to have commenced his operations in Canada at a very early 
date. According to Mr. J. M. Le Moine, in his able lecture 
on "The Scot in New France," one of Jacques Cartier's 
comrades, in the voyage of discovery of 1535, was a Scot 
named Michael Hervey, and according to the same authority 
there is every reason for believing that the renowned Plains 
of Abraham at Quebec were named after another Scot, Abra- 
ham Martin, who was called by the Jesuits in Champlain's 
time, " xAbraham Martin dit I'Ecossais." 

A regiment known as Eraser's Highlanders, under the lead- 
ership of the Master of Lovat, distinguished itself at the cap- 
ture of Louisburg in 1758, at Montmorency in 1759, and at 
St. Foy in 1760. In the description of the battle of Carillon, 
July 8, 1758, given in Garneau's History of Canada, we 
read : "It was the right of the trench works that was longest 
and most obstinately assailed. The British Grenadiers and 
Highlanders there persevered in the attack for three hours 
without flinching or breaking ranks. The Highlanders above 
all, under Lord John Murray, covered themselves with 
glory." Mr. Le Moine tells us that these sturdy Highland- 
ers while in Canada, '' continued to wear the kilt both winter 
and summer. They, in fact, refused to wear any other dress, 
and these men were more healthy than other regiments which 
wore breeches and warm clothing." The "garb of old Gaul," 
however, did not find favor in the eyes of all of its beholders, 
for during the winter of 1759-60, when a portion of Eraser's 
Highlanders was quartered in the Ursulines' Convent at Que- 
bec, the nuns begged permission from Governor-General 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. I7 

Sir James Murray to be allowed to furnish the bare-legged 
Highlandmen with decent and comfortable clothing. The 
Celts, however, would have none of them. 

Governor Murray was a son of the fourth Lord Elibank. 
His record in Canada as a soldier and statesman is one of 
the grandest in the annals of the British provinces. Sir 
James H. Craig was another statesman-soldier, who is en- 
titled to rank among the most prominent representatives of 
the Scot in America. He was born at Gibraltar (where his 
father was a judge), and was lieutenant-governor of Lower 
Canada during the eventful period between 1807 and 1814. 
Lieutenant-General Peter Hunter, who was governor of 
Upper Canada and commander-in-chief of the forces in both 
the Canadas from 1799 till his death at Quebec in 1805, also 
deserves to be held in kindly remembrance. According to 
Mr. H. J, Morgan, Hunter's '^administration of the govern- 
ment of L^pper Canada was marked with much benefit to that 
province, and it would not be going too far to say that to 
his enlightened policy that portion of Canada is greatly 
indebted for many benefits which it otherwise would never 
have known." Captain R. H. Barclay, who commanded the 
little British fleet in the fight on Lake Erie in September, 
1813, when Admiral Perry's flagship, the Lawrence, had to 
haul down its colors, proved by his gallantry and manceuver- 
ing in that engagement that Scotsmen can fight on sea as 
well as on land. Although ultimately defeated in the un- 
equal contest. Captain Barclay won deserved applause for 
his courage and skill. He was tried by court martial for 
the loss of his ships but was honorably acquitted, and died 
at Edinburgh in 1831. 

In the province of Quebec, despite many disadvantages, 
Scotsmen have made their way from the very beginning of 
its history. In Montreal, and even at Quebec, we find traces 
of them in every direction, and their influence on the pros- 
perity of Montreal has perhaps been more marked than in 
any other city on the continent. Throughout the province 
colonies of Scots or individual pioneers were early at work 
developing the resources of the country, making roads, 
building shanties, cottages, barns or mills, clearing forests 
and making grain grow, where bush or weed had rioted for 
ages. In an interesting history of Huntingdon county, by 
Mr. Robert Sellar, published by himself at Huntingdon in 



1 8 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

1888, I find many references to the doings of Scotsmen in 
that section. The following extract gives an idea of the dif- 
ficulties under which these settlers contended, and also 
shows that they did not forget one of the great resources 
of Scottish civilization — the schoolmaster. '' In the Summer 
of 1802, the ' Nephton ' arrived at Quebec with 700 High- 
landers, mostly from Glenelg, Ross-shire. Of these, a con- 
siderable portion were induced to proceed to Sir John 
Johnson's property. Those who got lots on the slopes of 
Mount Johnson (now called Chambly Mountain) did toler- 
ably well, but the surrounding la.id was so wet that the 
Highlanders could make nothing of it, and, after enduring 
much privation, determined on looking out another place 
for their abode. Three of the shrewdest of their number, 
John Roy McLennan, John Finlayson and Finlay McCuaig, 
were selected in 1812 to go out and spy the land to the west. 
* * * That Fall, led by the three explorers named, 
several moved over and founded what came to be known as the 
Scotch settlement. Others followed, until by 1816 the first, 
second and third concessions of Williamstown were fairly oc- 
cupied. The American squatters at St. Remi and along the 
Norton Creek were very kind, helped them to put up shanties, 
and showed them how to make potash. Those who did not go to 
Williamstown went to Glengarry, so that not a single one was 
left on Mount Johnson. Altogether 60 families took up 
their abode at Williamstown. * * * They had no facili- 
ties, and when they had wheat to grind, they had to haul it 
all the way to the King's Mills on the La Tortue. * * * 
Boards for their houses they obtained by making saw-pits, 
and cutting them with whip saws ; for among their number, 
were several who had been sawyers in Scotland. At Mount 
Johnson, they had been joined by Norman McLeod, a 
schoolmaster, sent out by the Royal Institution, which 
allowed him ^100 a year, and whose services Sir John had 
obtained for them. On the breaking up of the settlement at 
the Mount, he elected to go with the division that had selected 
Williamstown, and choosing a lot in the Scotch settlement, 
he continued to hold school in his own house. On Sundays, 
he gathered the people together, and held divine service in 
Gaelic, which was the language of the settlement." 

The Maritime Provinces seem to have been, from the first, 
the favorite section of Canada for the settlement of the Scots, 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. I9 

either individually or in colonies ; at the time of the Revolu- 
tion in the United States, whole bands of loyalists took up 
their abode in Nova Scotia ; Lord Stirling's colonial experi- 
ments were failures, as they deserved to be. They were 
designed for the good of the king and his favorite, and 
not primarily for the benefit of the country or the people. The 
loyalist immigrants were more successful and the country 
gradually acquired commercial and agricultural wealth. 
Restigouche is almost wholly a Scottish county, and the 
names of many of its townships — Glenelg, Glenlivet, Dunlee 
and Campbelltown, show conclusively the very district in 
Scotland from which the early settlers came. Clyde River 
and Argyle Bay are about the only names which survive to 
tell of the Stirling fiasco. In McGregor's interesting work on 
British America we read : " The town and whole district of 
Pictou are decidedly Scottish. In the streets, within the 
houses, in the shops, on board the vessels, and along the 
roads, we hear little but Gaelic and broad Scotch. The 
Highland dress, the bagpipe and Scotch music are general 
in this part of the country, while the red gowns of the stu- 
dents, which we see waving here and there like streamers, 
bring the colleges of Aberdeen 'and Glasgow with their 
associations into recollection." 

The story of one settlement in Pictou may be told in the 
wo!-ds of the late Mr. J. W. Rattray as an indication of the ma- 
terial of which these colonies were composed. It was conduct- 
ed by Wellwood Waugh, of Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire. " This 
band had been attracted to Prince Edward Island in 1774, but 
their hopes were blighted by a visitation of locusts and they 
removed to Pictou county. At the peace of 1783, there 
was an important addition to the population, the largest 
body being the Sad or Hamilton Regiment, which had been 
on duty under General McLean, chiefly at Halifax, but 
some had seen service both North and South during the 
war. This regiment was disbanded at Halifax and had a 
large tract of land set apart for them in Pictou, well known 
as the 82d grant. The list of Scottish families, both High- 
land and Lowland, which are enumerated in the history of 
that time is almost bewildering in its variety of nomencla- 
ture, and if not in pedigree is at least notable in posterity. 
The Saxon iBurnside, of Glasgow, and the Grays of the 
Lowlands, jostle together with all the Macs, Macdonalds, 



20 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

MacKays, MacKenzies and Macgregors. One Highland 
Scot, James Chisholm, the son of a parish minister in the 
far away north, had been at first on Washington's staff, but 
when he found himself deserted by his kinsfolk, he left all 
and made his way ' home to his ain folk ' in distant Pictou. 
* * * * Early in the [19th] century immigration re- 
ceived a new impetus. The Erasers opened up a settlement 
at Millbrook in Pictou county ; thence the Rosses, Mac- 
donalds and Gordons worked their way to the Middle River ; 
and, in 1801, large numbers of Highlanders, chiefly Catho- 
lics, arrived, most of whom finally settled down in Anti- 
gonish and to the east. The Mount Thom settlement 
appears to have been chiefly Protestant, with the average 
Scottish nomenclature — Stewart, McLean, McLeod,Urquhart, 
Macdonald, Chisholm, Fraser, Cameron, Thomson, Grant, 
Brown, etc. During the early years of the century large 
numbers of Highland settlements were formed in this dis- 
trict of Nova Scotia, and these continued fitfully until the 
war of 1812, when a new era opened throughout the British 
provinces. The settlers came from Sutherland, notably a 
large number from the parish of Lairg, from Stornoway in 
Lewis, and the northwest Highlands and Islands of Scotland 
generally. Edward Mortimer, ' the King of Pictou,' as he 
was proudly called, came from Keith in Banffshire." 

This description might easily be applied to many other 
places in these provinces. In fact, the achievements of the 
Scots in that part of the continent are truthfully summed up 
by a countryman, Dr. John Harper, of Quebec, in his ex- 
ceedingly able paper on "The Maritime Provinces, their 
Origin and Inhabitants," where he says: ''Where is the 
city or country in which no Lowland Scotsmen are to be 
found ? Whether they are the salt of the earth or not they 
seem to have been spread over the world much as that 
healthy condiment is spread by our cooks over everything 
comprised within their culinary operations. Certainly if 
they are the salt of the earth, as they themselves in their 
happy moments claim to be, they have not lost their savor 
at least in the Maritime Provinces, where they are found 
occupying important positions — commercial, political and 
professional ; and you can hardly read a chapter of pro- 
vincial history without finding some Scotsman mentioned 
for his enterprise in improving the lives and conditions of 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 21 

those who happen to be his near neighbors, with due atten- 
tion, of course, to his own interests." 

The places in the Maritime Provinces where the GaeHc 
language prevails or is still largely spoken, are, the counties 
of Pictou and Antigonish; Earl town, in the county of Col- 
chester ; a corner in the county of Guysborough ; the 
Island of Cape Breton ; Prince Edward Island ; and some 
settlements along the Bay of Chaleur, in New Brunswick. 
In Glengarry county, Ontario, Gaelic still continues to be 
the language of the people, and it is there spoken as purely 
as it is in Dingwall or Lewes. The Highlanders of Glen- 
garry are, physically and mentally, a magnificent race and 
in no way bring discredit upon the land of their forefathers. 
According to a census taken in 1852 there were in Glengarry 
county 3,228 McDonalds, 551 McMillans, 541 McDougalls, 
450 McRaes, 437 McLeods, 415 Grants, 399 Camerons, 312 
McLennans, 304 Campbells, 133 Chisholms, 50 Cattenachs, 
262 Mclntoshs, 176 Erasers, 114 McGregors, and repre- 
sentatives of nearly every name peculiar to the Highlands 
of Scotland. 

The Province of Ontario received its first impetus in the 
matter of population from the loyalists of New York, who 
left that State at the time of the Revolution. It is impossible 
not to admire the consistency and devotion of these people 
to the government under which they were born, and also 
their dignified, honorable course in a political crisis during 
which men's souls were sorely tried. Most of them, in 
making the change, sacrificed everything, wealth, social 
position, friends and homes for honor, and turned their 
faces northward to begin life anew in an unopened country. 
Surely they are deserving of being described by the im- 
partial historian as patriots as fittingly as those who took 
an opposite view of their duty in the crisis and threw off the 
old allegiance. In connection with this I desire to quote 
briefly from an article by Mr. James Hannay, the graceful 
historian of Acadia: ''Canada would never have existed 
but for the decrees of banishment which were passed against 
the loyalists after the close of the Revolutionary war, by 
which they were driven from their homes, and their estates 
confiscated. This action was taken under the pretence that 
men who had fought for the King were not worthy to live 
under the new Republic, but the real motive for these cruel 



2 2 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

acts of banishment was to allow a number of rascals who 
posed as patriots to escape the payment of their lawful 
debts due the loyalists, and to give them the opportunity 
to become rich by trafficking in the confiscated estates of 
the banished men, of whom no less than seventy thousand, 
including many of the brightest minds and of the stoutest 
hearts in the colonies, settled in Nova Scotia, New Bruns- 
wick and Ontario. These men were the real founders of 
Canada." Of these loyalists many were of Scottish descent, 
if not of Scottish birth, and by their determined loyalty and 
indomitable perseverance, not only were the provinces saved 
to the British crown, but its wildernesses and forests soon 
became changed into smiling gardens and fruitful farms. 
It has often been said, with truth, that the leaders of the 
provinces at this crisis in their history are less known to 
Canadians of the present day than they should be. They 
laid the basis of the Dominion's prosperity on a broad and 
enduring foundation, and built up a nation quite as much as 
Washington and his compatriots did to the south of the St. 
Lawrence and the great chain of lakes. 

Among the Scots who took part in this glorious work we 
find such men as Sir William Grant, a native of Speyside, 
who was Attorney-General of Quebec in 1776 ; Sir Charles 
Douglas, whose relief of Quebec in 1776 was a brilliant 
military exploit ; Sir Alexander Mackenzie, of Inverness, 
the discoverer of the Mackenzie River and the first Euro- 
pean who crossed the continent from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, north of the St. Lawrence; and the Rev. Dr. John 
Stuart, of Kingston, a missionary as well as a patriot, and the 
founder of Episcopalianism in Ontario. Duncan McTavish, 
a native of Stratherick, may be accepted as a representative 
of the merchants of those times. For twenty-five years he 
was engaged in the wilds of upper Canada promoting the 
interests of the Northwest Company of which he was a part- 
ner. He was fair and honorable in his dealings with all 
men, and won the good will of the Indian nations he came 
in contact with. He conceived the idea of establishing a 
connection with China through Canada, and while traveling 
over the route he proposed this trade to take, McTavish 
and six companions were drowned at Cape Disappointment, 
near the mouth of the Columbia River. 

One of the earliest settlements in Manitoba was that 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 23 

organized by Lord Selkirk in 181 2. V/hile on a visit to 
Canada t^vo years previously, that nobleman determined to 
establish a Scottish colony in the territory of the Hudson's 
Bay Company. On his return to Scotland, he induced 130 
tenants on the Sutherland estate to court fortune in the 
scheme, and they sailed from Scotland for Canada in June, 
1 81 2. The voyage lasted until the end of August when 
anchor was drooped in the Churchill River. The immi- 
grants were conveyed from there to P'ort Garry (Winnipeg) 
in buffalo carts and were allotted land around the fort. They 
at once began farming operations, but long before Spring 
came, the stores were short and misfortunes fell upon the 
colonists. Several of the older settlers died and were 
•buried in the snow, starvation stared the survivors in the 
face, and the incursions of the French Canadian voyagers 
and their Indian allies, allowed them to realize very little 
from their agricultural labors and even rendered their lives 
and property insecure. When the summer was over, and 
it was found that a fair trial afforded no hope of a better 
condition of things, many of the survivors determined to 
move eastward and settle in some spot a little nearer 
the outskirts of civilization. On'e record says : " They 
crossed the Red River a little below Fort Garry and traveled 
to the head of Rainy Lake over patches of prairie, across 
lakes and rivers. After a month of toil through a trackless 
wilderness two of the number sank exhausted, and were 
buried where they fell. During the second month a new 
life was ushered into the world. By patient toil they passed 
south of the Lake of the Woods, and into the intricacies of 
what is now known as the Savanne Swamp. The days were 
now growing short, and the cold weather had begun. The 
most sturdy were anxious to push on, but sickness had 
claimed many, and it was impossible to make rapid marches. 
The October days found them still afoot, trudging patiently 
and with a pertinacity peculiarly Scotch along the north 
shore of Lake Superior. The wintry winds and snow over- 
took them north of Lake Huron, but the Indian guides who 
had proved faithful showed them how to escape the snow to 
the windward, make couches of pine boughs, and sleep in a 
circle with their feet towards the fire. The war of 1812-1813 
had just drawn to a close, when the little band found their 
way into northern Canada, The British Government, in 



24 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

order to carry munitions of war to the upper lakes, had built 
a military road from Holland Landing to Penetanguishene. 
The weary emigrants struck into the military road, the first 
evidence of civilization they had seen for fifteen weeks. 
They halted at Holland Landing (named after Lord Hol- 
land). The Canadian Government being apprised of their 
plight made grants of land to them in the Holland river 
valley, and supplied them with provisions, clothing and 
farming implements for one year. They turned the valley, 
which was thickly wooded, into the finest farming land in 
Canada, and their descendants now enjoy the fruits of their 
industry. The principal families are the Macbeths, the 
Sutherlands, the Gunns, the Sinclairs and the Frasers." 
The descendants of these settlers now rank among the most 
prosperous farmers in Ontario. Dr. William Macbeth, of 
Galesburg, Mich., the son of one of these pioneers, made an 
effort some years ago to recover from the Canadian Govern- 
ment the land which the Hudson's Bay Company granted to 
his father. But the claim was disallowed. Had it been 
otherwise, he would have owned a large part of the land on 
which the flourishing city of Winnipeg now stands. 

Thus we find in the early histories of the United States 
and Canada that the Scot took a prominent part in all the 
events which started both nations on the lines, which, con- 
tinued to the present day, have made them the beacons of 
liberty, security and civilization on the American continent. 
The hold which those early Scots won in the young countries 
has never been relaxed, and all through the subsequent history 
of each we discover men of Scottish birth or blood pressing 
forward in every good work. In Canada, if we take up any 
of the valuable handbooks issued by Mr. H. J. Morgan, we 
will find that in the Cabinet, the Senate, the House of Com- 
mons and the Provincial legislatures the Scottish race is 
more numerously represented than the size of the "wee 
gray land ayont the sea " would seem to warrant.* Several 



* In a recent work, of much historical value, Mr. David Scott writes: "After 
the English Government found it necessary for the safety of the Hanoverian succes- 
sion to disarm the Highlanders, and break up so far as they could, the ancient loyalty 
of the clans to their chieftains, and the ancient protection which the chief, as in honor 
bound, •xtended to every member of his clan, a large number of Scottish gentlemen 
turned their attention toward Canada as a country which offered many inducements 
in the way not only of exciting adventure but also of prosperous commerce. These 
emigrants of gentle descent did not settle as cultivators of the soil, but banded 
together and formed themselves into a tradmg concern, which grew, in the course of 
years, into a vast partaerthip, known as the ' North-West Company.' Over the 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 2$ 

of the Governors-General, including the Earl of Dalhousie» 
the Earl of Elgin, and the Marquis of Lome, were also 
Scots, and the Marquis of Lansdowne, a recent occupant of 
the high office, is at least of Scottish descent, and the wearer 
of an old Scottish title — that of Baron Nairne, an honor 
which dates from 1681, when Charles II. was King. 

In the United States it is difficult to estimate the amount 
of influence which the Scot has had upon the government of 
the country. Many of the Presidents, including Madison, 
Monroe, Jackson, Polk, Buchanan, Grant, Hayes and Arthur 
have been proud of the Scotch blood in their veins. Among 
soldiers the race can point to its Montgomerys, Morgans, 
Knoxes, Scotts, and hundreds of others. In the "late on- 
pleasantness," Scotsmen and their descendants took an ac- 
tive part. One of the first regiments to respond to the call 
of President Lincoln was the Seventy-ninth New York High- 
landers, and when the order was given for its final disband- 
ment (in 1875), the representative of the State acknowledged 
that it had ''marched further and fought more battles than 
any other regiment" from New York. The Scots in Chi- 
cago were also gallantly represented among the troops which 
took part in the great conflict. , The Chicago Highland 
Guard was an organized military company in Illinois from 
1855. In January, 1861, it offered its services to the United 



interior of the Canadas the merchants spread a great network of stations, each of 
them presided over by a clerk, who (if he behaved well) rose in the course of time to 
a junior partnership. The principal trade was in furs, and in order to obtain the (urs 
it was necessary to barter with the Indians. So it came to pass that these pioneers 
of Canadian commerce bought from the old country cheap articles in the shape of 
clothing, knives, muskets, and other commodities suitable for exchange with the 
Indians, and sent back valuable furs, which found their way to every considerable 
market in Europe. The enormous return from this traffic was spent by the descendants 
of the Highland chiefs in right liberal fashion. They supported a crowd of dependents 
hardly less in number than their ancestors had maintained by the shores of Morven 
and Locheil, or among the hills of Mar and Lochaber. Once a year the whole com- 
pany of shareholders met to transact business, and then the scene was like a gathering 
of the clans amidst the forests of the Far West. The names of the old chieftains 
were those familiar among them— Cameron and Chisholm and McKenzie— the free 
and rough hospitality was the same, and we are obliged to confess that the convivial 
habits were much the same also. To this very day, though the reign of the first 
North-Western Company of Canada is long over, you may find relics of these old 
Celtic families among the citizens of Montreal and Toronto ; and even where the name 
and wealth have passed away, there are a few descendants of these chieftains of com- 
merce, who count their lineage as proudly as if they came of the blood royal itself. 
Instead of the grandees of the North-West Company, Farther Canada has been taken 
possession of by a humbler class of our countrymen, who are content to till the ground 
they own for a livelihood. Whole villages of the Far West are Celtic in origin, and 
one may hear the Gaelic tongue almost as readily among the Canadian pines as in the 
glens of Invcrness-shire, or among the boatmen of green Islay itself. Scottish theology 
has been imported, as well as national pride ; Scottish love of education, as well as 
habits of self-denial and thrift." 



26 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

States government and is believed to have been the first com- 
pany that made such a proposition. Its offer was accepted 
in April, after Fort Sumter had been fired upon, and the 
company commenced its real military career at Springfield, 
111., April 23, 1861, under command of Captain J. T. Raffen. 
Writing of military matters recalls the varied career of an 
Aberdonian, who died a few years ago at Cleveland, O., a 
little over a century old. This was General Donald McLeod, 
who was born in 1779. -^^ ^^'^^ educated at Aberdeen Uni- 
versity with the view of entering the ministry, but went into 
the British navy, and subsequently was transferred to the 
army, having obtained a commission in the " Black Watch," 
with which he was engaged in the Peninsular wars, being 
present at many important battles, such as Badajos and Co- 
runna. At the latter place the British general, Sir John 
Moore, was killed, and McLeod, being major in his regiment, 
was selected as one of the pall-bearers at his funeral. In 
1 81 2 McLeod was ordered to America, but 1815 found him 
with his regiment at the battle of Waterloo. He served with 
distinction, being severely wounded, and received several 
medals for his brave conduct. Owing to his wounds he left 
the service and went to Canada, where for a number of years 
he edited a journal, and took a very prominent part in the 
political agitations which finally culminated in the rebellion 
of 1837-38. On the suppression of the rebellion he fled to 
the United States, and until his death resided in Cleveland. 
His share in the rebellion — a history of which he wrote and 
published — was pardoned by Queen Victoria. 

In all the relations and engagements of civilized life, as 
well as in directing and influencing the affairs of govern- 
ment, the Scot in Canada and the United States has exerted 
and is exerting a wide-spread and happy influence. The 
greatest railroad enterprise of the age — the Canada-Pacific — 
has been successfully completed through his enterprise, 
pluck and commercial sagacity. The Grand Trunk Rail- 
way is indebted for its prosperity to the grit of the Scot. 
Such works as the Victoria tubular bridge at Montreal attest 
his engineering and mechanical skill, and over all the rail- 
roads of the Dominion we find him in every position from 
humble track-layer to chairman of the board of directors. 

In a capital series of articles, by Mr. Alex. MacKenzie, 
of Inverness, on "Highlanders in Nova Scotia," which ap- 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 2"] 

peared some years ago in a Scotch newspaper, occurs the 
following, showing how the Scots there were everywhere in 
the front. Writing from Halifax, N. S., he said: "The 
majority of the people are Scotch and Highland, and form 
the upper crust of society. Several Highlanders especially 
have made for themselves prominent positions. The Premier 
of Nova Scotia, the Hon. Simon Holmes, whose official 
residence is in the capital, is a Gaelic-speaking Highlander, 
and a good Gaelic speaker, too. He is the grandson of one 
who came out here without a cent. The Honorable James 
MacDonald, Minister of Justice for the Dominion, who 
resides here, is the grandson of a small farmer or crofter, 
who originally came from Redcastle, in Ross-shire. The 
Honorable Wm. Ross, Minister of Militia in the late 
Canadian Government, and now Collector of Customs in 
Halifax ; the Honorable James S. MacDonald, Member of 
the Legislative Council ; his brother, Charles, late M. P., 
but now Post Office Inspector-General for Nova Scotia ; 
Angus Macleod, Collector of Inland Revenue ; and scores 
holding the best positions in the country are descendants of 
men who had been evicted from Lairg and Rogart, in 
Sutherlandshire, and other places , in the Highlands, or who 
left of their own will in a state of utter penury. * * * And 
these patriots give outward signs of their good feelings to 
the Old Country. They have their North British — the oldest 
in the colony — and their Highland societies." 

Ill the United States, the late Alexander Mitchell rose to 
be the head of a railroad system which did more for the 
prosperity of Wisconsin than any other single agency. Col. 
Scott, in Pennsylvania, did the same for that part of the coun- 
try, and the Central Railroad of New Jersey, one of the lead- 
ing lines in the country, was for a time under the control 
of Mr. John S. Kennedy, formerly President of the New 
York St. Andrew's Society. Mr. Andrew Carnegie, as an 
iron master, may also be regarded as a railway potentate, and 
his gifts to his native city of Dunfermline, as well as to Edin- 
burgh, London, New York and Allegheny, prove him to be 
possessed of good sense as well as charity, qualities which 
do not always go together. In the monetary circles of both 
nations Scotsmen stand in the very foremost rank, and they 
are generally regarded as among the most conservative and 
safe financiers of the time. Two well known Scots, Cover- 



28 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

nor W. E. Smith, of Wisconsin, and Governor John L. Bever- 
edge, of Illinois, rose from poverty to become the heads of the 
commonwealths in which they lived. Hon. C. M. Lormg, of 
Minneapolis, the founder of its beautiful park system and a 
real benefactor of the city, is of Scottish descent. Hon. 
Alexander McKenzie, of Bismark, a native of Scotland, is one 
of its wealthiest, most respected and most public-spirited 
citizens. Captain J. B. White, of Fort Wayne, is re- 
garded as the most influential citizen of that beautiful 
town, and is a splendid example of a man who is equal- 
ly successful in politics and in business life. John 
L. Mitchell is ably carrying on his father's railroad and 
financial schemes in Wisconsin. John Johnston, a nephew 
of Alexander Mitchell, and a graduate of Aberdeen Univer- 
sity, is by his life work showing that an educated Scot has 
all the qualifications for a successful business man. By his 
ability as an orator, his thorough honesty, his sense of pub- 
lic duty, and generous gifts for educational purposes, he has 
won the esteem of the citizens of Milwaukee and many hon- 
orable public offices have been filled by him from time to 
time. He once, indeed, refused the nomination for mayor of 
that city, and would certainly have been elected had he ac- 
cepted. Mr. Johnston is often spoken about as a candidate 
for the governorship of Wisconsin, and another Milwaukee 
Scot, Mr. James Morgan, a native of Perthshire, received 
the Democratic nomination for that high office in 1888. Mr. 
J. M. Smith, an Edinburgh man, holds a prominent place in 
business circles in Boston and his labors on behalf of the 
Scots and British charitable societies, show that he believes in 
patriotism, charity and brotherly love going hand in hand. In 
Albany, N. Y., Mr. Peter Kinnear, a native of Brechin, 
might have been mayor long ago if he wanted the office, and 
Albany had enough voters whose political views were in ac- 
cordance with his own. A successful business man, a warm- 
hearted friend, he has long held an enviable position among 
the residents of his adopted city, and to him Albany really 
owes the magnificent statue of Burns which adorns its public 
park. In Buffalo, Mr. David Bell, another well known Scot, 
has been known for many years as a ship-builder and en- 
gineer. In this way almost every town of importance in the 
United States and Canada might be laid under contribution 
to furnish an example of at least one Scot who is, or has been. 



I 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 29 

prominently identified with its history, its present prosperity, 
its mercantile standing, or its educational advantages.* 

In the matter of education the influence of Scotland upon 
America has been particularly great and beneficial. The 
old ambition of John Kuox that a common school should 
be in every parish, is really the leading principle on this 
continent where every settled township has at least one 
grammar school. Many of the early colleges in the country 
were founded by Scotsmen, as for example that of William 
and Mary at Williamsburgh, Va., which was established in 
1693 through the efforts of the Rev. Dr. James Blair, a 
native of Edinburgh, who became its first President. 

Columbia College, New York, and Rutger's College, N. 
J., have been largely indebted to Scotsmen and the sons of 
Scotsmen among their professors and principals for their 
successful histories. At Princeton, Presidents Witherspoon, 
McDonald, McLean and McCosh, and many professors of 
less degree, have brought honor on '' Auld Coila " by their 
influence, their work, and by their devotion to the cause 



♦ Mr. John Tod, of Lasswade, near Edinburgh, author of " Bits from Blinkbonny," 
who visited this country in 1887 thus summed up his impressions of Scotsmen in Amer- 
ica in a letter written just before his departure on, his return to his native land :— 

" I have been struck with the large number of Scotchmen that occupy positions of 
eminence and trust in America. In New York I met Mr. Robert Carter, an octoge- 
narian, the founder of the great publishing firm of Robert Carter & Brothers, and list- 
ened with pleasure to his account of the struggles and victories of the early days. In 
leading banking and railway circles, on Wall street and William street, were many 
Scots, and in commercial and literary circles my fellow-countrymen are in the front 
rank. In the Church arc Dr. Ormiston, Dr Wm. M. Taylor, and others, loved and 
loving, and all throughout my tour I found the ' children of the mist ' clear-headed, 
open-hearted and thriving. In Washington, Senator James Beck, of Kentucky, an 
honored and useful member of the National Legislature, speaks of his early home in 
Dumfriesshire, and Mr. Wm, Smith, curator of the United States Botanical Gardens, 
a Haddingtonshire man. has a most complete library of all the editions of the works 
of Robert Burns, as well as of books or pamphlets referring to Scotland's national bard 
—a large book-case crammed full, and any quantity of chppings and fragments of 
Burnsiana. 

" On the prairies of Iowa I found Scotchmen making the wilderness blossom as the 
rose, and visited the farm of Blairgowrie, where Mr. Adamson. of that ilkiil Scotland, 
has a,4oo acres under cultivation, with a farm-steading and stock of all kinds that 
would do credit to the Lothians. In Chicago I found on the Stock Yards and the 
Produce Exchange energetic Scotsmen, trusted and true. 

" In manufactures I found in Appleton. Wis., Holyokeand East Hampton, Mass., 
Lancaster, Penn., and other places, proprietors of large, thriving works, or managing 
members of important corporations, or superintendents of immense factories, that 
hailed from Scotland, and were serving their generation nobly by worthily holding up 
her old blue banner. 

" In Canada I found Sir John A. Macdonald, Prime Minister, full of vigoi, full of 
fight, and full of ' bon hommie,' and the Hon. Alex. Mackenzie, now ex-Premier, 
who had for so long served the Dominion faithfully, but is, alas, far from being strong. 
I would weary you, were I to try to enumerate the men of mettle that came over to this 
' immense subject ' of America, and have left, and are still leaving, their mark on its 
every department of life and work. Next to a Scottish birth, a Scottish pedigree is 
often a matter of boasting, even back into the regions of the Covenanting or Chevalier 
times." 



30 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

of education. Under such leaders liberality of thought, 
scientific speculation and research, philosophical discussion, 
and all branches of what is termed "the higher education," 
have gone hand in hand with the spirit of pure Christianity. 
The head of the educational system in New York for many 
years was Mr. William Wood, a native of Glasgow, and 
once a pupil at St. Andrew's University under Dr. Thomas 
Chalmers. Mr. Wood served several terms as President of the 
Board of Education, and retired from the Board in 1888, after 
twenty years' service as Commissioner, with the thanks of 
the city. The school system of Philadelphia, the second 
largest city in the Union, is directed by Superintendent 
McAllister, a Scot, who for several years did good service 
as head of the educational department at Milwaukee. 
William Russell, who died at Lancaster, Mass., in 1873, 
was another Scot who did much for the cause of education 
in this country. He was a practical teacher, and taught in 
Philadelphia, Andover, Boston and elsewhere. In 1840 he 
established a school for teachers in New Haven, Conn., and 
for many years was director of the Normal School at Lan- 
caster, Mass. For some time Mr. Russell was editor of the 
Ajnerican Journal of Education^ and in that capacity accom- 
plished much good. Knox College, Toronto, is as much a 
Scottish institution as though it stood on the banks of the 
Clyde. McGill University, Montreal, owes its origin, name 
and primal endowment to James McGill, a native of Glasgow, 
and for many years a merchant in Canada. The usefulness 
and importance of the University has been increased from 
time to time by the attentions and benefactions of Peter 
McGill, Peter Redpath, David Greenshields and other Scots. 
The Presbyterian College of Montreal also owes its useful- 
ness to many natives of Scotland, such as Mrs. Redpath, 
Edward Mackay, Joseph Mackay and David Morrice. The 
colleges at Fredericton, Halifax, and other places in the 
Maritime Provinces also owe much to the gifts of Scotsmen.* 



« 



* In a sermon preached before the ?t. Andrew's Society of Montreal, in 1887. the 
Rev. F. M. Dewey said : "Coming nearer home, we find that our seats of learning owe 
their existence and progress very largely to Scotchmen. If the history of such insti- 
tutions as Dalhousie College, Halifax; Motrin College, Quebec ; McGill University, 
Montreal ; Queen's University, Kingston ; the University of Toronto and Manitoba 
College, be inquired into, this s'aiement will be borne out. Not only have their 
endowments come largely from Scotchmen, but their prof essois are in many cases of 
that nationality, and in every case it is a Scotchman who is the principal of the 
institution.'' 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 3 1 

There is hardly a university on the continent in which Scot- 
land is not associated in some way, either in its past history 
or its present management or tuition, and many of the text 
books used are imported direct from the dear old lan^. 

Scottish scientists have won many honors and high rank 
on this side of the Atlantic. Dr. James Craik, Washington's 
family physician and comrade-in-arms, was born in Auld 
Scotia and became the foremost medical man of his time in 
this country. Alexander Gardner, another Scot, who died at 
Charleston, S. C, in 1792, was one of the leading botanists 
of his day. He corresponded with Linnaeus, and wrote 
many scientific papers of great value. William Maclure, who 
died in 1840, was one of the best practical geologists in the 
United States, and his writings are still valuable, although 
his special study has made wonderful progress since his day. 
He bequeathed his library, drawings, maps, charts, and many 
of his specimens to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 
Sciences, together with $20,000 to erect a building to con- 
tain them. The site selected for the city of Washington was 
suggested to the first President by George Walker, the son 
of a farmer at Sheardale, Clackmannanshire. He was a land 
surveyor and his practised eye saw the advantages which 
the site possessed for the erection of a great city. Among 
scientists I may class Henry Eckford, who once gave New 
York the reputation of building the best wooden ships in the 
world. He was born at Irvine, Ayrshire, in 1775, and went 
to Canada when sixteen years of age. He learned the art 
of shipbuilding from his uncle, John Black, at Quebec, and 
in 1797 came to New York and soon established himself in 
business and won an enviable reputation for his work. Dur- 
ing the war of 181 2 he constructed a fleet of vessels for 
service on the great lakes. In 1820 he became naval con- 
structor at Brooklyn and built several war ships. His re- 
putation as a ship builder extended far beyond his adopted 
country, and in 1831 he accepted an invitation to settle in 
Constantinople to establish a governmental navy yard. He 
died, however, shortly after landing in Turkey. His daughter 
became the wife of the American poet Drake. James Fer- 
guson, who died in 1867, was one of the engineers who laid 
out the Erie canal. His astronomical researches were of 
great importance and in the annals of that science he will be 
remembered as the discoverer of several asteroids. He held 



3i SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

the position during his later years of assistant astronomer in 
the United States Naval Observatory. Sir W. E. Logan, a na- 
tive of Montreal, and the son of Scotch parents, rose to be the 
head of the geological survey in Canada. His chief assistant 
in the survey was Alexander Murray, a native of Dollerie, 
Perthshire. Dr. George Lawson, a native of Maryton, a vil- 
lage on the banks of the Tay, as a botanist and chemist, re- 
flected credit on the University of Kingston, Ont., in which 
he was one of the professors. Sir J. W. Dawson, the presi- 
dent of the Montreal meeting of the British Association in 
1884, is of Scottish descent. 

If we turn to the church, we will also find Scotland fully 
represented. In New York a number of the leading pulpits 
are occupied by Scots, or men of Scottish descent. The 
principal Congregational church, the Broadway Tabernacle, 
is presided over by the Rev. Dr. W. M. Taylor, a native of 
Kilmarnock, and even so thoroughly a Knickerbocker con- 
gregation as that of the Dutch Reformed Church, on 
Twenty-ninth street and Fifth avenue, has for its emeritus 
pastor the Rev. Dr. William Ormiston, a native of Lanark- 
shire and formerly a minister in Ontario. Another Scottish 
minister who has come to New York (or rather to its vicin- 
ity) by way of Canada, is the Rev. Dr. Waters, of Newark, 
formerly of St. John, N. B. The Rev. Dr. Cochrane, now 
of Brantford, Ont., who claims Paisley as his birthplace, 
was formerly a minister in Jersey City. Philadelphia has 
Dr. Blackwood as the representative of the Scottish ele- 
ment among its clergy. Chicago has Bishop McLaren, a gen- 
tleman of ripe scholarship and an honor to the Episcopal 
Church, and most of the large cities on the Continent might 
thus be named. In Canada, Scotch ministers are, as the 
auctioneers used to say, '* too numerous to mention," and 
it is a significant fact that a majority of all the moderators 
of the Presbyterian Church there have been natives of the 
*' land of the Covenant and the Sabbath." Among Scottish- 
American ministers who faithfully followed their holy call- 
ing on this side of the Atlantic, an interesting volume might 
be written. Selecting a few representative names at ran- 
dom, we may mention Dr. Alexander McLeod, a native of 
Mull, who was pastor of the first Reformed Presbyterian 
Church in New York for many years prior to his death in 
1833. His writings against slavery, as well as upon religious 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA 33 

topics, did good service in their day ; John McLean, a 
Banffshire man, was bishop of Saskatchewan when he died, 
after an interesting career, in 1887. His success in life was 
the result of patient endeavor and downright hard work. 
These are great names in the ministry, but hundreds of 
lesser degree might be mentioned, whose work was just as 
earnest and as enduring although known to only their imme- 
diate friends and the people among whom they labored. 
Many in North Carolina, for instance, will yet have pleasant 
memories of the Rev. John C. Sinclair, who died at Wheeling, 
W. Va., in 1878. He was born in the Island of Tiree, Ar- 
gyllshire, August 15, 1800, and studied at the universities of 
Edinburgh and Glasgow, in the latter of which he graduated 
with great credit, particularly in the classics and mathemat- 
ics. In 1838 he emigrated with his family to Pictou, Nova 
Scotia. There he soon established for himself a position 
and reputation as a ripe scholar and an eloquent preacher. 
In 1852 he removed to Newburyport, Mass., where he re- 
mained only for a short time ; and after several other 
changes he finally settled in 1858 in North Carolina. He 
there enjoyed great success. His fluency as a Gaelic scholar 
and preacher made him very attractive to thousands of his 
Scottish Highland fellow countrymen and their descendants 
in that State. 

In the offices of the church, where all its business arrange- 
ments are thought over and carried out, and its finances man- 
aged, Scotsmen are also found particularly active. Business 
and theology are, in fact, two points on which the Scottish 
intellect is particularly strong. A splendid example of this 
combination of religious activity and business principles 
may be found in the history of Walter Lowrie, a native of 
Edinburgh. He was educated in Pennsylvania with a view 
to entering the ministry. Instead of the pulpit, however, he 
found himself at the age of twenty-seven occupying a seat 
in the Senate of Pennsylvania. He served as a senator for 
seven years, and then was elected to the Senate of the United 
States. In 1824 he was made secretary of the Senate, and 
might have held that office for life, but he had other pur- 
poses in view. In 1836 he became corresponding secretary, 
of the Wesleyan Foreign Missionary Society, and in 1837 
was elected to the same office in the Presbyterian Church, 
and continued so to labor fwr thirty-two years with marked 



34 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

success. He was also the founder of the Congressional 
prayer-meeting, and of the Congressional Total Abstinence 
Society, but it is questionable whether either of these organi- 
zations did much good among the parties they were intended 
to benefit. Lowrie died in 1868, revered and honored by 
missionaries and teachers all over the world, and by thou- 
sands of good people in this country. 

One name which must ever shine among the real benefac- 
tors of this country is that of Mrs. Isabella Graham, a native 
of Lanarkshire, where she was born in 1742. Her husband 
was a surgeon in the British army, and in 1766, one year 
after her marriage, she accompanied him to Canada, and re- 
sided for several years at Fort Niagara. From there she re- 
moved to the Island of Antigua, where her husband died in 
1774 leavmg her penniless, with three infant daughters, while 
a son was born soon after she became a widow. By the 
assistance of friends the family was enabled to return to 
Scotland. Mrs. Graham established a boarding house in 
Edinburgh and prospered exceedingly. One-tenth of her in- 
come she devoted to charity, remembering how she was once 
indebted to kindly aid in her own hour of need, and to the 
closes and wynds of '^ Auld Reekie " she made regular visits, 
going about continually doing good, cheering the destitute 
by her alms, and administering religious consolation to the 
weary, down-hearted and fallen. Her labors also led her to 
organize many schemes by which the poor might help them- 
selves, and her " Penny Society " did a wonderful amount of 
good. In 1785 Mrs. Graham, at the request of many friends, 
came to this country and settled in New York.- Immediate- 
ly after her arrival she opened a school, and within a month 
had gathered into it fifty pupils. She continued in that vo- 
cation for thirteen years with great success. While attend- 
ing to her scholastic work, however, Mrs. Graham did not 
neglect those charitable and religious duties which lay so 
near to her heart. She continued to give of her income to 
the poor as the Lord prospered her. Day after day she 
spent several hours in the humbler homes of the city and 
suburbs, doing good, and the society for the Relief of Poor 
Widows with Children, was organized at her house. Mrs. 
Graham was also one of the most active founders of the 
Orphan Asylum and the Magdalene Society, and in Sabbath 
school work she took a deep interest. After she gave up 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 35 

her school, she continued her charitable and religious labors 
and was ever foremost in helping along all practical move- 
ments which were designed to promote the temporal or spirit- 
ual welfare of the poor. So much was her work appreciated 
that we are told she was often blessed by the people as she 
walked along the streets, and even her very presence was as 
a ray of sunshine in every darkened and poverty-stricken 
home into which she entered., This good woman died in 
1814. One of her daughters married, in 1795, David Bethune, 
a native of Scotland, and a prosperous merchant of New 
York. He actively assisted his mother-in-law in her noble 
work, and during his whole life was noted for his benevo- 
lence and his evangelical zeal. He printed and distributed 
thousands of tracts, imported Bibles for circulation among 
the poor, either gratuitiously or at nominal cost, supported 
several Sabbath schools and, like Mrs. Graham, laid aside a 
tenth of his income every year for religious purposes. He 
died in 1824. Long residence in this country, and an active 
participation in its affairs never caused Mr. Bethune to lose 
his love for his native land. To the last he was an enthusiast 
about Scotland, and unlike so many other Scottish- 
Americans infused apart, at least, oC his love for the mother- 
land into his children. One of his sons, the Rev. George 
W. Bethune, D.D., a minister in Brooklyn, in which city 
his name is still held in veneration, wrote one of the most 
popular of modern Scotch songs, with a purity of sentiment 
and expression, and an evident appreciation of the musical 
power of the Doric which would have done honor to one who 
had never been removed from the mother-land. That song 
commencing : — 

" O ! sing tome the auld Scotch sangs 
r the braid Scottish tongue. 
The sangs my father wished to hear, 
The sangs my mither sung," 

touches the heart of the Scot abroad wherever it is sung, and 
is one of those gems full of kindly feeling and reminiscence, 
which have made Scottish minstrelsy so popular over the 
world. Dr. Bethune wrote many other poems, and several 
volumes on theological subjects of importance and value, 
but this little, tender, simple home song will keep his memory 
green long after these have been forgotten. 

In point of numbers, the Scotch lawyers in this country 
and Canada beat the ministers three to one. The land is 



36 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

full of them, and if our Scottish-American "writers" are 
not as deep and tricky as the famed lawyers of Philadelphia, 
they are more conservative, cautious, and devoted to their 
clients. In the olden days Robert Wright and James Michie 
each became Chief Justice of South Carolina and have lett 
enviable records behind them. In more modern times we 
find such Scots as the late Sir William Young and Chief 
Justice Henry upholding the dignity and integrity of the 
law in the Canadian Courts. In the States we find that Jus- 
tice Mitchell, of the Supreme Court in Minneapolis, is of 
Scottish descent, as is the Hon. J. B. GilfiUan, one of the 
leaders of the Minnesota bar. Judge McDonald, of Shake- 
spere,Wis., was born in Scotland,and Chief Justice David Mc- 
Adam, of the New York City Court, is of immediate Scot- 
tish descent. In this connection it may be mentioned that 
George Chalmers, the celebrated Scotch antiquary and his- 
torian, whose great work on '* Caledonia" remains a monu- 
ment to his patriotism and ability, immigrated to this coun- 
try in 1763 and practised law until the outbreak of the 
Revolution, when he returned to Britain. A more recent 
literary Scotch lawyer is Mr. D. J. Bannatyne, of New York, 
a native of Glasgow, whose work on the '* Republican Insti- 
tutions of the United States" is a model of its kind. 

In literature the Scot not only holds his own on this side 
of the Atlantic, but is doing his best to make the literature 
of the continent really worthy of its greatness in other re- 
spects. Canada can point to Dr. Daniel Wilson, Principal 
Grant, Mr. J. Stewart, Mr. Wm. J. Raffray, Mr. Alex. Mc- 
Kenzie, Prof. Clark Murray, and Mr. James Hannay among 
its Scottish prose writers, and Evan McColl, Alexander 
McLachlan, Charles Mair, and A. T. Wingfield among its 
poets 

In the States, Wilson's American Ornithology retains its pre- 
eminence, and such names as Barbour, Moffatt, Wilson and 
Hutton show that as '* makers of books" Scotsmen have a 
more than passing popularity. The grandest name, how- 
ever, in all Scottish-American literature, is that of the ven- 
erable ex-President of the College of New Jersey at Prince- 
ton, Dr. James McCosh, a native of Ayrshire. Under his 
practical guidance and wise government, Princeton as a 
seat of learning made marvelous progress in the perfection 
of its curriculum, the number of its students, and the ex- 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 37 

tent of its buildings and endowments. In philosophy Dr. 
McCosh is now the most eminent teacher of the time^ and 
the result of his latest studies is a system or school of 
thought, which America may regard as its own, and which 
combines all that is good and true in the older philosophic 
schools of Scotland and Europe. The Rev. Dr. Charles 
Nisbet, at one time a minister in Montrose, and who died in 
1804 after being President of Dickinson College, Pennsyl- 
vania, was the best authority on belles-lettres and system- 
atic theology in this country during his time. His collected 
writings are still prized by students. Robert Dale Owen's 
speculative works still have a weird interest. The Rev, Dr. 
Turnbull, long a Baptist minister at Hartford, Conn., was 
a graceful writer, whose writings deserve a better fate tha« 
the neglect into which they have fallen. His treatise on 
" The Genius of Scotland " should especially commend it- 
self to his countrymen here. The late Robert Macfarlane, 
of Albany, N. Y., was one of the pleasantest writers on 
Scottish and antiquarian subjects who ever lived in this 
country. His favorite nom-de-plume " Ruthenglen," adopt- 
ed from his native town, was always welcomed in the New 
York Scottish-American^ to which for many years he was 
a regular and appreciated contributor. Dr. VV. M. Taylor, 
of New York, has won a high reputation as a religious 
writer, as well as a preacher, and in theology especially, 
Scottish-American writers have added much to the literary 
wealth of the country. 

Among Scottish- American poets many a delightful hour 
might be spent, for the poetic Scot does not leave his harp 
behind him when he crosses the Atlantic, One of the best 
of the poems by Wilson, the ornithologist, is an account of 
a journey he made from Philadelphia to the Falls of Niag- 
ara. Andrew Scott, of Bowden, the author of the famous 
border ballad, " Symon and Janet," was a soldier in this 
country during the Revolutionary war, and wove many of 
his verses when a prisoner on Long Island. Hew Ainslie, 
who was born at Bargeny Mains, Ayrshire, came to this 
country in 1822, and died at Louisville, Ky., in 1878. His 
little poem, *'The Ingleside," has been more frequently 
quoted than the production of any other Scottish-American 
poet. William Wilson, of Crieff, who died at Poughkeepsie, 
N. y., in i860, wrote at least one song — ''When the sun 



38 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

gaes down," which has established itself as a favorite. John 
Burtt, author of a song "O'er the mist-shrouded clifts," 
which has been ascribed to Burns, and who was born at 
Riccarton, Ayrshire, in 1789, came to this country in 181 7 
and studied theology at Princeton, He was successively 
minister of churches at Salem, N. J., and Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and at the latter place edited a newspaper called The 
Standard. He was an eloquent preacher as well as a poet 
of considerable originality and gracefulness. After an 
active life he retired in 1859 to Salem, N. J., where he died, 
respected and beloved, in 1866. Mrs. Grant, of Carron, 
whose *' Memoirs of an American Lady " is one of the most 
interesting books regarding early life in New York ever 
written, was born 'in Glasgow in 1755. She accompanied 
her father to this country m 1758, and was in America for 
ten years. Her residence here was mainly at Albany, and 
she delighted the ladies of that then Dutch town by her ju- 
venile talent. She was a graceful descriptive writer ; a bril- 
liant letter writer, and a woman of industry and sterling in- 
dependence. She first became an authoress, with the view 
of supporting her children, after the death of her husband — 
a poor clergyman. 

The limits of this article will not allow me to pursue this 
theme, congenial as it is, much further, but I cannot leave 
the poets without some mention of the late David Gray, of 
Buffalo, the sweetest of all Scottish-American singers. Gray 
was born at Edinburgh in 1836, and came to this country 
while early in his teens. In 1859 he obtained a position on 
the staff of the Buffalo Courier, and gradually rose until in 
1867 he became its chief editor. He held that position until 
1882 when he retired with his health broken down. He died 
m 1888 as the result of injuries received in a railway col- 
lision near Binghamton, N. Y., while on his way to Cuba 
for rest and recreation. The following poem on *' The last 
Indian Council on the Genesee," and referring to Glen Iris, 
N. Y., has often been quoted : 

The fire sinks low, the drifting smoke 

Di s softly in the autumn haze, 
And silent are the tongues that woke 

In speech of other days. 
Gone, too, the dusky ghosts whose feet 

But now yon listening thicket stirred ; 
Unscared within its covert meet 

The squirrel and the bird. 



V 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 39 

The story of the past is told. 

But thou, O Valley sweet and lone ! 
Glen of the rainbow ! thou shalt hold 

Its romance as thine own. 
Thoughts of thine ancient forest prime 

Shall sometimes tinge thy summer dreams, 
And shape to low poetic rhyme, 

The music of thy streams 

When Indian Summer flings her cloak 

Of brooding azure on the woods, 
The pathos of a vanished folk 

Shall haunt thy solitudes. 
The blue smoke of their fires once more 

Far o'er the hills shall see.m to rise. 
And sunset's golden clouds restore 

The red man's paradise. ^^^ 

Strange sounds of a forgotten tongue 

Shall cling to many a crag and cave, 
In wash of falling waters sung, 

Or murmur of the wave. 
And oft in midmost hush of night. 

Still o'er the deep-mouthed cataract's roar, 
Shall ring the war-cry from the height, 

That woke the wilds of yore. 

"Sweet Vale ! more peaceful bend thy skies, 

The airs be fraught with rarer balm 
A people's busy tumult lies 

Hushed in thy sylvan calm. 
Deep be thy peace ! while fancy frames 

Soft idyls of thy dwellers fled,— 
They loved thee,' called thee gentle names, 

In the long summers dead. 

" Quenched is the fire ; the drifting smoke 
Has vanished in the autumn haze; 
Gone too, O Vale, the simple folk 
Who loved thee in old days. 
But, for their sakes — their lives serene — 
Their loss, perchance as sweet as ours — 
Oh, be thy woods for aye more green. 
And fairer bloom thy flowers ! " 

In journalism we find the Scot in the foremost ranks. 
The New York Herald was founded by James Gordon Ben- 
nett, a native of Aberdeen. Whitelaw Reid, the editor of 
the New York Tribune^ is of immediate Scotch descent. 
One of the editors of Harper's Weekly, John Foord, is a 
native of Dundee. William Swinton has had a stirring 
and changeful career as a newspaper correspondent, editor 
and man of letters. Thomas C. Latto, of the Brooklyn 
Times^ a native of Edinburgh, is perhaps better known as a 
song writer than a journalist, but his long connection with 
the press warrants his being mentioned here. Colonel 
McClure, the best known journalist in Philadelphia, claims 
Scottish descent. George Brown, of the Toronto Globe , 
was a native of Edinburgh, and the founder of the Montreal 
Witness^ Mr. John Dougall, was a native of Paisley. The 



40 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Guelph Mercury was owned and edited for nearly a quarter 
of a century by George Pirie, a native of Aberdeen, and 
a lyrical poet of much ability. Daniel Morrison, a native 
of Inverness, did good service as a journalist on such papers 
as the Toronto Leader and the New York Tribune. The 
most original thinker among New York editors is John 
Swinton, a native of Haddington, and Andrew McLean, of 
the Brooklyn Citizen^ hails from Dumbartonshire. The 
Scottish-American, of New York, is owned and edited by A. 
M. Stewart, a native of Clackmannanshire. Li fact we 
might go into the editorial rooms of every newspaper of note 
in the United Spates or Canada, and we would be sure to 
find the ubiquitous Scot there in some capacity. If not in 
the editorial chair he is acting as a reporter, ready to spring 
into it whenever the opportunity offers. Even from the 
composing room his eyes are cast in the direction of the 
** sanctum," and sooner or later, if his mind is thoroughly 
set upon it, he will find himself installed in that mysterious 
apartment. A case in point, fully illustrative of this is that 
of the late George Dawson, of Albany, N. Y. He was 
born at Falkirk in 1813, and went to Canada with his parents 
when quite young. He learned type-setting in the office of 
the Niagara Glea?ier. In 1826 he was working as a compos- 
itor on the Anti-Masonic Enquirer at Rochester, N. Y. The 
editor, the late Thurlow Weed, saw that the Scotch lad was 
diligent, full of resources, and anxious to get on. In 1830 
Mr. Weed founded the Albany Evening Journal, and a 
year later he established young Dawson, then only eighteen 
years old, in his office as foreman. Besides acting in that 
capacity Mr. Dawson was sent to the capitol to report the 
doings of the Legislature, and by degrees wrote on any 
subject that came before him. This accustomed him to be 
quick and ready with his pen, enabled him to become a prac- 
tical journalist, and fully overcome the deficiency of his early 
education. In 1836 he accepted the editorship of the Roches- 
ter Democrat, and for three years filled that position with 
every satisfaction. Then he went to Detroit and became editor 
of the Advertiser. The party whose cause he championed won 
a gubernatorial election through his aid, and his services 
were rewarded by receiving the appointment of State printer. 
In 1842 a fire destroyed his office and broke up his business 
in Detroit. He went back to Rochester, and resumed the 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA, 4 1 

editorial chair of the Democrat^ and in 1846, at the earnest 
solicitation of Mr. Weed, he returned to Albany, and be- 
came associated with his old friend in the management of 
the Evening Journal^ and a partner in the firm which owned 
it. Mr. Dawson continued to be the trusted lieutenant of 
Mr. Weed until the withdrawal of that gentleman in 1862, 
when he became sole editor. This position he retained, 
except during two brief intervals, until a few months before 
his death in 1883. In politics as well as in journalism, Mr. 
Dawson made himself a power in the State, while as Presi- 
dent of the Albany St. Andrew's Society, and one of its 
active members, he showed that he never lost his love for 
auld Scotland. 

In art, Scotsmen in America have not failed to reflect 
credit on their native land. The first picture gallery in this 
country was that of John Watson, a Scotch painter, who re- 
sided at Perth Amboy, and died shortly before the Revolu- 
tion. Among Scottish artists who have won renown in this 
country, mention may be made of John Smibert, an Edin- 
burgh man, who settled in Boston in 1728. Several of his 
portraits still adorn Yale College. James McDougal Hart 
and his brother, William Hart, are two Scottish artists who 
were among the first to make Am'erican landscape painting 
eminent. Gilbert C. Stuart, who painted the portraits of 
Washington and many of the Revolutionary heroes, was of 
Scottish descent, and learned the rudiments of his profession 
from a Scotch artist named Alexander. Alex. Anderson, who 
died at an advanced age in 1870, was the first engraver on 
wood in this country, and attained great skill. He illustrat- 
ed the first edition of Webster's Speller and many of the 
publications of the American Tract Society. His father 
was a true Scot and American patriot and printed the '* Con- 
stitutional Gazette " in the Revolution. 

Scottish merchants are to be found everywhere and in 
every branch of business. As dry goods men especially, they 
are the most prominent all over the country. The late 
James Roy, of West Troy, N. Y. , may be mentioned as a 
good specimen of the Scottish-American merchant. He was 
born at Alva in 1808, and came to this country in 1834. 
After working for a while with a brother, w^ho owned a 
brewery at Pittsfield, Mass., he settled at Troy and began 
business as a weaver of woolens, under the firm name of 



42 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

James Roy & Co. The business done by the firm was from 
the first quite extensive, and financially was very successful. 
Mr. Roy was the first to introduce into this country the 
machinery for weaving woolen shawls, and in these the firm 
did a large trade. Altogether four places were required for 
the business of the firm — one at Schenectady, and three at 
West Troy. In public life Mr. Roy enjoyed in the highest 
possible degree the esteem of his fellow-citizens. He was a 
director of the West Troy Bank from its origin, and for three 
years acted as its president. He was also a trustee of that 
city for over twenty years. There was, indeed, no office in 
the gift of his neighbors that he might not have held had 
he wished it. In private life Mr. Roy evinced many admir- 
able qualities. He was liberal almost to a fault ; his hand 
was ever open, and in him the poor always found a kind and 
generous friend. Of his many charities no record was ever 
kept, but an intimate friend estimated that he gave away in 
small sums at least $50,000. He died in 1878. Such old 
firms as the late one of Hogg, Brown & Taylor, in Boston, 
have in their time been the means of starting large dry- 
goods houses all over the country. In most of these houses 
we find salesmen and clerks almost entirely from Scotland, 
as the Scot is believed to know the dry goods business much 
more thoroughly than his American comrade. This simply 
arises from the fact that in Scotland, "the draper," as he is 
there called, serves a regular apprenticeship of five years, 
and during that time is carefully initiated into all the myste- 
ries of the business. In America, as soon as a boy begins 
to look like a man he thinks himself fitted for a man's work 
and demands a man's wages. This holds good as far as 
other businesses are concerned, and gives the Scotch-bred 
mechanic a grand advantage in after-life over a co-laborer 
who has learned his business here. The old fashioned ap 
prenticeship system has its hardships and disadvantages, but 
on the whole its benefits are incalculable. A Scotch marine 
or railway engineer, carpenter, smith, weaver or other artisan, 
other things being equal, is of more service than one who 
has " picked up " his trade here in the usual hurried manner. 
The Scot understands his work thoroughly in all its details, 
and this very understanding gives him a certain degree of 
pride in his task, and a desire to make it approach as close 
perfection as possible. 



THE SCOT IN AMERICA. 43 

Whatever faults may be found with the nationaHty, and 
among the principal faults are its clannishness and fondness 
of the bawbees, it is generally conceded on all sides that its 
influence on this continent has been for good. Even the 
faults mentioned, allowing them to be faults, which I cer- 
tainly do not, have had beneficial results. The clannishness 
has developed a series of national charitable societies,, under 
the name of Saint Andrew, by means of which, notwithstand- 
ing the admiration of the bawbee, thousands of dollars are 
yearly distributed among brither Scots who have fallen by 
the way. Some of these societies are older than the United 
States, and many, such as those of Montreal, New York, 
Baltimore and Albany, possess considerable funds. The 
histories of a number of these societies have been published, 
and furnish much interesting information regarding the 
Scottish residents of their particular sections. Such is the 
case particularly with the Scots* Charitable Society of Boston 
and the St. Andrew's societies of Charleston, Philadelphia 
and Albany. 

The clannishness of the Scots has also developed a num- 
ber of other societies, organized mainly for social purposes, 
although nearly all possess some- charitable features. The 
Caledonian clubs of the United States, the oldest of which 
is that of Boston, and the Caledonian societies of Canada, 
with that of Montreal as the premier, maybe regarded as 
the foremost of these organizations. Their object is to 
foster a taste for the ancient athletic games of Scotland, to 
promote social intercourse, to perpetuate Scottish music, 
and to encourage the wearing of the Highland dress. Many 
of these societies and clubs have large memberships, and 
some of their annual games have been attended by thousands 
of spectators. They have done more to promote a love for 
outdoor sports of a harmless and pleasant nature throughout 
this country than any other agency. The college games and 
amateur contests, now so common all over the country, are 
mainly an adaptation of the games given every year under 
the auspices of the Scots in America. The winter game of 
curling is also a Scottish importation. 

Besides these there are the Order of Scottish Clans, the 
Order of Sons of Scotland, Burns clubs, Midlothian clubs, 
Highland societies, and the like. It may safely be said that 
wherever a score of Scots are settled they have an organiza- 



44 SCOTLAND AND IIIE SCOTS. 

tion of some sort in their midst, around which they can rally 
when occasion requires or the humor seizes them. Unlike 
other national associations, these organizations have no polit- 
ical importance and desire no political influence. They exist 
mainly to gratify a national sentiment, and they leave their 
members free to act as citizens of the land of their adoption 
as they may individually see fit. This has given them a 
degree of honor in the eyes of most people and helped to 
enhance the standing of the nationality in the community. 

Whatever the Scot does, whether he builds a railroad, digs 
a mine, fires a shot, preaches a sermon or sings a song, he 
does it with all his heart and with all his might, thoroughly, 
completely and grandly. He walks through life hoping so 
to conduct himself that he will win the esteem of his neigh- 
bors, the commendation of his friends, and perhaps make 
his family a little better and more aristocratic than himself; 
for the Scot at heart is undoubtedly an aristocrat, although 
Presbyterianism has developed him into a sound republican. 
In America he prides himself upon being, above all things, 
equally loyal to the land he has left and the land he lives in, 
and the histories of Canada and the United States show that 
to this sentiment he has undoubtedly been true. He pos- 
sesses a grand record for courage, earnestness, honor, truth, 
religion and success. Such a record entitles him to respect 
wherever he goes, and inspires him with hope and confidence 
for the present and the future. God grant that this glorious 
record may go down through the ages not only undimmed, 
but strengthened and increased as years follow after years. 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 



THE clannishness of Scotsmen has become proverbial all 
over the \vorld, and is more frequently alluded to by 
*' foreigners " with a sneer than with any degree of en- 
comium. Other nationalities, except in one respect, are 
quite as clannish as the Scots, and it is therefore difficult to 
understand why this quality in our countrymen should be 
ridiculed and talked about as though it were something 
which other people should not imitate. The clannishness of 
the Scot has nothing in its make up. which is not found 
commendable in family life. Besides, it is an expensive 
characteristic at times. It costs money. It makes the 
canny Scot put his hand in his pouch now and again, an act 
which his enemies or traducers do not give him much 
credit for, and in thus backing up his nationality with his 
bawbees, the Scot's clannishness is different from that of 
anyone else. In the United States, for instance, as far as 
my observation has gone, the Scot spends in charity 
among his ain folk ten times as much as the Englishman, 
twenty times as much as the wanderer from <' Vaterland," 
and fifty times as much as any other nationality which 
might be named. Of course, the Scotsman is hard and 
careful in money matters. When he gets a dollar he looks 
at both sides of it, and he holds a penny in his hand very 
closely until the moment comes that he has to spend it. 
But when a tale of distress is poured into his ear, when the 
widow and orphan appeal to his aid, when his judgement is 
sure that by undoing the tight band around his purse-strings 
he can alleviate misery or help the poor to rise in the world, 
no man is more wilhng or more generous. This is equally 
a characteristic of the Scot at home. In the grand old city 
of Edinburgh may be found charitable and educational in- 



46 ' SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

stitutions of which any nation might be proud, homes for 
the sick, the blind, the inlirm, the aged, the orphan, or the 
widow, established and endowed by kindly Scots, and main- 
tained without national or municipal aid. The practical 
nature of the people is illustrated by the educational facih- 
ties which Scottish benefactors have placed within the reach 
of the poor, and, long before school boards came into 
existence, thousands of Edinburgh children were thoroughly 
educated in such institutions as Heriot's, Stewart's or Wat- 
son's hospitals, and the free Heriot schools. 

But in dealing with clannishness and its results we come 
mainly in contact with the Scot Abroad. So far as I can 
learn, the common talk of the national clannishness originat- 
ed several centuries ago on the continent of Europe. A 
large number of Scots fought in Sweden and Germany — 
soldiers of fortune like Dugald Dalgetty — but still men with 
warm hearts and kindly sentiments who ever maintained a 
regard for their motherland amidst all the smiles or frowns 
which the fortunes of the wars brought them. The long 
friendship which existed between Scotland and France, made 
the latter country quite a favorite with the warlike Cale- 
donians, especially in those rare intervals when peace reigned 
on the north side of the Tweed. The Scots Guards in France 
by its loyalty to the cause it adopted, its proved reliability 
for all sorts of service which the exigencies of the State de- 
manded, as well as by its valor, rose to be a power in the 
land to which it gave its services, and its record as it has 
come down to us is not equaled in its tales of perilous ad- 
ventures, reckless bravery, determined resistance and deeds 
of gallantry by that of any other body of men in either 
ancient or modern times. 

The Scots Guards appear to have been first organized by 
King Charles VII. They were the most trusted of all the 
royal troops and the royal person was virtually placed in 
their care. An old record tells us that " two of them assisted 
at mass, vespers, and ordinary meals, on high holidays at the 
ceremony of the royal touch, and the erection of the knights 
of the king's order ; at the reception of extraordinary am- 
bassadors, and public entries of cities there must be six of 
their number next to the king's person, three on each side 
of his majesty and the body of the king must be carried by 
these only, wheresoever ceremony requires, and his effigy 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 47 

must be attended by them. They have the keeping of the 
key of the king's lodging at night, the keeping of the choir 
of the church, the keeping the boats when the king passes 
the river, the honor of bearing the white silk fringe in their 
arms which is the coronal color in France, the keys of all 
the cities where the king makes his entry given to their cap- 
tain in waiting or out of waiting." In 1547 Henry II. grant- 
ed letters of naturalization to the Scots Guards, and Henry 
IV. not only confirmed this privilege but extended it to all 
Scots then residing in France, or who might afterwards take 
up their residence there. Thus the Guards not only received 
benefits for themselves but their fame caused a share, at 
least, of their privileges to become the common property of 
their countrymen. Sir Walter Scott, in his novel of '' Quen- 
tin Durward'," gives us a capital idea of the consequence in 
which these Guards were held and of the life they led at 
court and in the field. Here is a description of the equip- 
ment of one of the troopers, the maternal uncle of the hero 
of the story. '' He wore his national bonnet, crested with 
a tuft of feathers, and with a Virgin Mary of massive silver 
for a brooch. * * * The archer's gorget, arm pieces and 
gauntlets were of the finest steel, curiously inlaid with silver, 
and his hauberk or shirt of mail was as clear and bright as the 
frostwork of a winter morning upon fern or briar. He wore 
a loose surcoat or cassock of rich blue velvet, open at the 
sides like those of a herald, with a large white St. Andrew's 
cross of embroidered silver bisecting it both before and be- 
hind — his knees and legs were protected by hose of mail and 
shoes of steel. A broad strong poniard (called the Mercy of 
God), hung by his right side, the baldric for his two-handed 
sword, richly embroidered, hung upon his left shoulder, but 
for convenience he at present carried in his hand that unwieldy 
weapon which the rules of his service forbade him to lay 
aside." This important looking personage was a gentleman 
by birth and station, a fact which neither he nor any of his 
comrades were ever likely to forget. Here is Sir Walter 
Scott's graphic description of the splendors of the Guards : 
" The French monarchs made it their policy to conciliate 
the affections of this select band of foreigners by allowing 
them honorary privileges and ample pay, which last most of 
them disposed of with military profusion in supporting their 
supposed rank. Each of them ranked as a gentleman in 



48 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

place and honor, and their near approach to the king's per- 
son gave them dignity in their own eyes as well as import- 
ance in those of the nation of France. They were sumpt- 
uously armed, equipped and mounted ; and each was enti- 
tled to allowance for a squire, a valet, a page and two yeomen. 
* * * With these followers and a corresponding equipage, 
an archer of the Scottish Guards was a person of quality and 
importance, and vacancies being generally filled up by those 
who had been trained in the service as pages or valets. 
The cadets of the best Scottish families were often sent to 
serve under some friend or relation in those capacities until 
a chance of preferment should occur." 

In 1419 the Earl of Buchan landed at Rochelle with a 
force variously computed at 7,000 to 10,000 Scottish troops. 
Though the Scots were looked upon at first with suspicion 
as "sacs a vin et mangeurs du mouton," their valor at the 
battle of Bauge, in 1421, won the first success for Charles 
VII. The following particulars regarding the exploits of 
the Scots Guards at Bourge are gleaned from the Rev. W. 
Forbes Leith's history. Under the command of the Earls 
of Buchan and Wigtown, they fought valiantly ; and it was to 
them in great part that Charles owed his victory. The 
two armies were separated by a rapid river, crossed by a 
narrow bridge. On the 23d of March the Scottish general 
had sent a detachment, commanded by Sir John Stewart, of 
Darneley, and the Sire de P'ontaines, to reconnoitre. This 
troop, coming upon the English unawares, fell back in 
time to warn Buchan of the approach of the Duke of Clar- 
ence. Happily he had a short time to make ready for an 
advance, whilst Sir Robert Stewart, of Railston, and Sir 
Hugh Kennedy kept the bridge with a small advanced corps, 
over which the Duke of Clarence with his best officers tried 
to force a passage, having left the great bulk of the army to 
follow as best they could. 

The effects of this manoeuvre were, by a strange coinci- 
dence, the same as at the battle of Stirling, where Wallace 
defeated Surrey and Cressingham. The Duke of Clarence, 
conspicuous by the golden crown surmounting his helmet, 
and by his gorgeous armor, was first attacked vigorously 
by John Kirkmichael, who broke his lance on him ; then 
wounded in the face by William Swinton; at last brought to 
the ground and killed by a blow of a mace by the Earl of 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 49 

Buchan. The bravest of his knights and men-at-arms lell 
with him. The Earl of Somerset was taken prisoner by- 
Lawrence Vernor, a Scot; and his brother by Sir John 
Stewart of Darneley; the Earl of Huntington by John Sib- 
bald, a Scotch knight; and the Sire de Fewalt by Henry 
Cunningham. 

The rest, furious at the disaster, rushed to the bridge to 
take revenge; but they were killed or taken prisoners, as 
they arrived, by the Scots. According to Monstrelet, two 
or three thousand English lay dead on the spot. As might 
have been expected, the Scots were, at first, regarded with 
dislike and contempt by the French people. Owing to their 
habits of enforced abstemiousness at one time, and the ex- 
cesses in which they indulged at others, they were denounced 
to Charles as sacs a vin et vianguers de mouton. Charles 
paid but little heed to these murmurs; but after the battle 
of Bauge he summoned the accusers before him and said : 
"What think ye now of these Scotch mutton-eaters and 
windbags ? " " The malcontents," says the quaint chronicle, 
" as if they had been struck with a hammer on the head, 
knew not what to reply." At Verneuil, in 1424, the Eng- 
lish gained a bloody victory, but the Scots fought to the 
last with stubborn determination. The French were ex- 
hausted and terrified; the royal cause seemed almost hope- 
less. Charles VH. had few whom he could trust, and the per- 
sonal loyalty of the Scottish mercenaries was the strongest 
support on which he could lean. The traditional account 
that the Scots Guards was established after the battle of Ver- 
neuil is confirmed by Mr. Forbes Leith's researches into 
the Registres de la Chambres des Comtes. On July 8th, 
1425, the first mention is found of a body of men-at-arms 
and archers ordained to guard the person of the king, under 
the command of Christin Chambre, Esquire, of Scotland. 
When Joan of Arc began her heroic struggle, the Scots 
warmly devoted themselves to her service. One Scottish 
soldier, Walter Bowe, returned to his native land after 
Joan's death, and became a monk at Inch Colme, where he 
continued Fordun's Chronicle and commemorated the deeds 
of Joan, "whom I saw and knew, and in whose company I 
was present to her life's end." In all the work of the re- 
covery of France the Scots took a prominent part, till the 
throne of Charles VII. was secure. But when peace was 



50 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

re-established soldiers were a hindrance to the national se- 
curity. Bands of freebooters ravaged the country, and the 
work of restoring internal order was as difficult as that of 
securing peace. A happy chance gave Charles VII. the 
opportunity of sending 30,000 soldiers to help Frederick 
III. to prosecute the quarrel of the house of Austria 
against the Swiss. In this expedition they suffered greatly 
from the vengeance of the peasantry, which they awakened 
by their ravages. When the remnant returned to France 
Charles VII. was ready to strike a blow against military li- 
cense. Many were dismissed from service, and the rest 
were formed into fifteen compagfiies d'ordonnance, which 
were the beginning of the French standing army. Two of 
these companies were formed from the Scots — " Les Gen- 
darmes Ecossais" and '* La Compagnie Ecossaise de la 
Garde due Corps du Roi." 

The services done by Scotsmen to France naturally caused 
many honors to be conferred upon them. In 1422 John 
Stewart, Earl of Buchan, was made Constable of the king- 
dom, and a year later, Archibald, Earl of Douglas, was 
created Duke of Turenne. Both these heroes were killed, fight- 
ing for their adopted flag at the l)attle of Verneuil. In 1424 a 
large number of Scotch soldiers arrived in France under the 
charge of a warrior named David Patullo, of whose exploits 
we know nothing, but they must have been extraordinary, for 
in that year Sir John Stewart of Darnley, another Constable 
of France, was invested wnth the lordship of Aubigney, and 
created a Marshal of France. During the defense of New 
Orleans the bishop of the See of Orleans was a Scot named 
John Kirkmichael, who appears to have been as brave a 
soldier as he was a good priest. While the siege lasted the 
l>ishop and the Scottish residents greatly distinguished them- 
selves by their valor. When Joan of Arc made her way to 
the beleagured city she was accompanied by Sir Patrick 
Ogilvy and a large number of Scottish soldiers, and when 
the siege was ended the French heroine and the Scottish 
bishop headed the procession that went from church to church 
and returned thanks to the Almighty for their deliverance. 
When King Charles was crowned at Rheims, bishop Kirkmi- 
chael was one of the consecrating clergy. Bernard Stewart, 
of Aubigne, probably enjoyed more honors than any other 
Scot in France. He was twice sent to Scotland as a special 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 5 I 

ambassador from France, and fought in 1485 on the winning 
side at the battle of Bosworth Field in England. His career 
in campaigns in Italy and Spain won him the greatest reputa- 
tion as a soldier. He was known as the " Chevalier sans 
reproche." and Dunbar, the Scottish poet, styled him " the 
Flower of Chivalry." Among other dignities he held those 
of Viceroy of Naples, Constable of Sicily and Jerusalem, and 
Duke of Terra Nova. His second embassy to Scotland was 
in 1508 to the court of James IV. who received him with much 
distinction. But his health was then broken, and shortly 
after being received at court he retired to Corstorphine, near 
Edinburgh, where he died. By his will he directed that his 
heart should be sent to St. Ninian's shrine in Galloway, and 
his body buried in the church of the Blackfriars at Edinburgh. 
These directions appear to have been faithfully carried out. 
In 1548 Henry I. conferred the Duchy of Chatelherault on 
the Earl of Arran, and that title is still held by the Scotch 
ducal family of Hamilton. 

In Moncrieff's '' Memories of the Ancient Alliance between 
the French and Scots," printed at Edinburgh in 1751, 1 find 
the following: — "With regard to offices, the Scots have exer- 
cised some of the most considerable in France. Mr. Servien, 
a famous advocate under Henry III., in his pleading before 
the parliament of Paris relates' that ,Mr. Turnbull, a Scots- 
man, was a judge in the same parliament, and afterwards first 
president of the parliament of Rouen. Adam Blackwood 
was a judge on the bench of Poitiers, and others in courts of 
justice. The Scots have also possessed in France some of 
the first dignitaries of the church. Andrew Foreman was 
Archbishop of Bruges, David Bethune, Bishop of Mirepois, 
David Panter (or perhaps Panton) and after him James 
Bethune, Bishop of Glasgow, were successively abbots of 
L'Absie, besides a great number of priors, canons, curates 
and other beneficed persons in France. And it is remarkable 
that, in the year 1586, the cure of St. Come at Paris having 
been conferred by the University upon John Hamilton, hav- 
ing been disputed him by a French ecclesiastic who protested 
against Hamilton as being a Scotsman, Hamilton's cause was 
pleaded in the parliament of Paris by Mr. Servien, who proved 
that the Scots enjoyed the right of denizens, and in conse- 
quence by decree of the court the provisional possession of 
the cure was adjudged to Hamilton." William Barclay, a 



52 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

native of Scotland, was professor of law at Pont a' Mousson 
in Lorraioe, where he died in 1605. His son John, a poet 
and satirist, accompanied him on a visit to Britain in 1603, 
and soon attracted the attention of James VI., to whom he 
dedicated a volume of satirical romance in which the Jesuits 
were severely handled. His principal work "Argenis," apo- 
litical allegory, was translated into English three times, as 
well as into several other languages. Barclay died at Rome 
in 1621. 

An Act of Louis XIV. 's Council of State, signed at Fon- 
tainebleau in 1646 specially exempted the Scots from the taxes 
then imposed upon foreigners, as that exemption had been 
neglected in the statutes governing these taxes. In the pre- 
amble to this act the story of the Scottish friendship with 
France and the privileges extended to natives of Scotland 
are thus stated : ^' Whereas it hath been represented to the 
King, in his Council, the Queen Regent his mother present, 
that in the year 789, Charlemagne reigning in France, and 
Achius in Scotland, the alliance and confederacy having 
been made between the two kingdoms, offensive and defen- 
sive, of crown and crown, king and king, people and people, 
as is set forth by the Charter called the Golden Bull, it 
should have until this present continued without any inter- 
ruption, and been ratified by all the kings, successors of the 
said Charlemagne, with advantages and prerogatives so pe- 
culiar, that not only are the Scots in capacity of acquiring 
and possessing estates, movable and immovable and bene- 
fices in France, and the French in Scotland, without taking 
out any letters of naturalization ; but also it should have 
been granted to the said Scots to pay only the fourth part of 
the duties upon all goods which they transport to the said 
country of Scotland ; a privilege which they have ever en- 
joyed, and do enjoy at this day ; that even whatever rupture 
there may have been between the crowns of France and 
England since the union of the kingdom of England 
with that of Scotland, the French have nevertheless 
been still treated by the Scots as friends and confed- 
erates." 

In M. Francisque Michel's magnificent work on the 
** Scots in France," we find that in the i6th and 17th cen- 
turies noble French families were as proud of being able to 
trace their descent from a member of the Scots Guards as 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 53 

an English baron is to boast of his family having landed in 
England with the Conqueror. Maximilian de B£thune, the 
Duke of Sully, imagined himself to descend from the Bea- 
tons of Fifeshire and the great Colbert from the Cuthberts 
of Inverness. The same veneration for Scottish ancestry is 
shown in France even in our ov;n times. The Empress Eu- 
genie, wife of Napoleon III., was proud of her descent from 
the family of Ku'kpatrick, and Marshal Canrobert, one of the 
most honored soldiers of the second Empire commenced his 
genealogical tree in Scotland. Some years ago, M. Leon 
Scott, an employe in the publishing house of M. J^idot, 
Paris, claimed to be the lineal descendant of Michael Scot 
of Balwearie, Fifeshire, whose fame as a scholar and magi- 
cian extended over the whole of Europe from the 12th cen- 
tury. Whether M. Leon Scott's claim to long descent was 
proven or not, he could have the satisfaction of knowing that 
his '' case " was no weaker than that of Lord Eldon, who 
claimed to be the direct descendant of the wizard and exerted 
all his legal argument, logic, and perseverance to verify it. 
The descendants of the royal famHy of Stewart made their 
way all over the contment andean be traced among many of 
the reigning families of Europe. The royalist princes of 
France have all Stewart blood in their veins, and the heir-at- 
line of the old house, as well as of the English house 
of Tudor, is Maria Teresa, wife of Prince Louis of 
Bavaria, neice of the last of the Dukes of Modena in 
Italy. 

In Russia, Scottish seekers after fortune have also made 
their way to success and come out well ahead in competition 
with the natives of that great, if somewhat barbarous, 
country. Early in the 17th century a Scotsman, named 
George Lermont, left his native land and settled at Belaya, 
in Poland. Thence he passed into Russia and entered the 
service of Michael Feodorovick, the first of the Romanoff 
czars, by whom he is mentioned in a paper dated March 9th, 
162 1. His descendants Russified their name by the affix 
*' of," making the name Lermantof, and the most famous 
among them was Michael Andreevich Lermantof, who ranks 
as one of the foremost poets of Russia. The Scottish origin 
of the family is acknowledged with pride by its members, 
and the poet, in one of his pieces, says : 



54 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

" Beneath the curtain of mist, 
Beneath a heaven of storms. 
Among the hills of my Scotland, 
Lies the grave of Ossian. 
Thither flies my weary scul 
To breathe its native gale. 
And from that forgotten grave 
A second time to draw its life." 

In another poem, entitled " The Wish," he longs to have 
the wings of the bird, that he might fly ^' to the west, where 
shine the fields of my ancestors," and where, '* in the de- 
serted tower, among the misty hills, rests their forgotten 
dust," 

" And the chords of the harp of Scotland would I touch, 
And its sounds would fly along the vaults 
By me alone awakened, by me alone listened to. 
No sooner resounding than dying away." 

But such fancies are vain, for 

** Between me and the hills of my fatherland 
Spreads the waves of seas ; 
The last scion of a race of hardy warriors 
Withers away amid alien snows." 

Probably the best representative of the Scottish soldiers 
of fortune who made Russia the scene of their operations 
was General Patrick Gordon. This brave soldier and capa- 
ble general was born at Easter Auchlenchries, in 1635. -^^^ 
father was a cadet of the house of Haddo, and was blessed 
with the possession of a small and heavily mortgaged estate. 
When 16 years of age he was sent to Dantzig, and entered 
the Jesuit college at Braunsberg, but the quiet life of that 
seminary did not suit his roving disposition. In 1655 he 
entered the Swedish service and embarked under its flag in 
its war against Poland. Taken prisoner by the Poles he 
entered their service and fought as gallantly against the 
Swedes as he formerly did for them. The Swedes re-cap-, 
tured him, and without much ado he again drew his sword in 
their service. A real soldier of fortune truly, and even more 
unconcerned as to his allegiance than Sir Dugald Dalgetty. 
He rose, however, to the rank of captain-lieutenant, and as 
such he offered his services in 1661 to the Czar of Russia, 
and the offer was at once accepted. His rise in the Russian 
army was rapid, and in 1665 he was made a colonel. Then 
having learned of his accession to the grim and poverty- 
stricken estate of Auchlenchries, a fit of home-sickness 
came over him, and he desired to retire from the service 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 55 

and settle down at home as a laird. But this the Czar 
would not permit, although in the following year he sent 
him on a political mission to England. In 1670 he fought 
in the Ukraine against the Cossacks, and seven years later 
he was fighting the Turks. For his services in this last 
campaign he was made a major-general, and in 1683 a lieu- 
tenant-generalcy was conferred upon him. He was sin- 
cerely beloved by Peter the Great, and received many marks 
of that monarch's affection but none more than were war- 
ranted by his devotion and services to the greatest of all the 
czars, whose life, indeed, he at one time saved. Gordon's 
latter years were spent in opulence at Moscow, and he died 
in that city on the eve of St. Andrew's Day, 1699. Speaking 
of his last moments, one of his biographers says, " The czar, 
who had visited him five times in his illness, and had been 
twice with him during the night, stood weeping by his bed 
as he drew his last breath ; and the eyes of him who had left 
Scotland a poor unfriended wanderer, were closed by the 
hands of an emperor." 

Another old Aberdeenshire family, the Barclays of Tolly — 
from the same stock out of which sprang the Barclays of 
Ury — had its representatives in the Russian service. The 
founder of the Russian family seemed to have prospered, and 
unlike Patrick Gordon relinquished all interest in his native 
land. One of his descendants, Michael Barclay de Tolly, 
after a brilliant military career, became commander-in-chief 
of the Russian armies in France at. the time that the allied 
powers of Europe were closing in upon the great Napoleon, 
and in recognition of his services was created a prince 
and appointed field marshal. He died in 1818. Shortly 
before his death, the old family estate of Tolly came into the 
market and he was urged to purchase it. But he declined 
as he thought that the family had been so long expatriated 
from Scotland as to retain no interest in it. 

Peter the Great, in his task of creating a navy, was greatly 
aided by Scotsmen. The services of Paul Jones to Russia 
are still remembered, and among physicians and profes- 
sional men generally, natives of Scotland have carried off 
many of the leading honors. The stories of the Scottish 
soldiers of fortune, cadets of noble houses, who left their 
native country and the poverty to which their birth doomed 
them at home, and won honor for their names and their 



56 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

native land on the continent of Europe, are full of chivalry, 
romance, bravery, devotedness and sometimes pathos. 
These men were not all Dugald Dalgettys, as we are so 
apt to regard them, since Sir Walter Scott, by his genius, 
made that chevalier a representative of the race. Notwith- 
standing all his faults, however, the Knight of Drumthwacket 
was not altogether an unlovable personage. He was a man 
of undoubted courage, although he had a full share of the 
logical cautiousness of his countrypeople ; he was vulgar 
in his manner, but he was honest as steel to whatever flag 
he agreed to serve under ; he was talkative and prosy, but 
when the proper time came he was full of resource and 
action ; he possessed no statecraft, but he was more than a 
match for the Earl of Argyll, who imagined he had enough 
of that quality to endow the whole of Scotland ; and his 
word was as good as his oath, whether given to the Marquis 
of Montrose or to old MacEagh of the Mist. Notwithstand- 
ing his shortcomings, there remains enough about Sir Dugald 
to make us think about him as a representative soldier of 
fortune without believing that thereby the honor of the race 
was imperiled. Few, very few, of these adventurous Scots 
ever returned to their native land again after buckling on 
their swords and leaving it in search of fame and fortune. 
War was a game that was constantly being played in Europe 
during the i6th and 17th centuries, and the excitements and 
dangers of these times stifled effectually the craving of 
home-sickness which so often comes over the' Scot Abroad. 
The battlefields of Low Germany proved the last resting 
places of many of them, and to those few who survived the 
dangers of the field, and- perhaps found themselves in pos- 
session of the fortune for which they started, the changes 
which met them when they returned to Scotland too often 
made it no longer a desirable resting place, with memories 
of what had been and what might have been, constantly 
before them. This is to me the saddest phase in the lot 
of the Scot Abroad. I have known men, and women too, 
toil hard year after year in this country and gradually ac- 
quire a competency. Then, when it was won, the long sup- 
pressed yearning for home would break out with extraordi- 
nary force, and the idea expressed in Allan Cunningham's 
touching song would constantly be with them : 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 57 

'• Hame, hame, hame. hame fain wad I be, 
O hame, hame, hame to my ain countrie. 

******* 
When the flower is i' the bud and the leaf upon the tree. 
The lark shall sing me hame in my ain countrie." 

The wanderer at length goes home to find it home no 
longer. Friends and relatives have died or wandered away 
to other parts of the earth, old landmarks have disappeared 
or changed, and the place that knew the wanderer now 
knows him no more. To walk along well -remembered 
streets, to stand on the very stones one played over when a 
boy, to see this little reminder of youthful plays or that oft 
dreamed of nook, and not to see a *' kenned face " or get a 
smile from an acquaintance of auld lang syne is about as 
bitter an experience as can come to any human being. I 
remember an old farmer in Michigan, who visited Dumfries 
after an absence of forty-six years, telling me of his ex- 
periences with a sad heart on his return here. The first day 
after his arrival he remained in his hotel, tired and worn out 
from the effects of his journey, but with a feeling of self- 
satisfaction that he was once more at hame. Next day he 
wandered about the town, and in the leading streets, the 
changes were so great that hame began to seem as far away 
from him as it was in America. In the by-ways, the lanes, 
and wynds, time had made fewer alterations, but still enough 
had occurred to show that the laws of mutability governed 
even Dumfries. Then he spent several days. enquiring after 
old schoolmates and playfellows, but never gained an 
answer which gave him the satisfaction he desired. "He's 
dead," "The whole family went to Australia," '' They were 
last heard of in Canada doing well," "■ He went to London 
and never came back," were some of the answers he received, 
but the most general was '' Never heard o' them." The 
place that afforded him the most information was auld St. 
Michael's kirkyard, for on many of the tombstones of that 
hallowed God's-acre he read the names and recalled to his 
memory a large number of the lights of h'.s own day. But 
that day was over now, the dream of hame so carefully 
nursed for nearly half a century was dissipated forever, and 
the old man turned his face from his native city sad at 
heart, broken in spirit, a wanderer without a home. The 
late Dinah Muloch Craik expressed this sensation very 
beautifully in her little poem entitled, "Coming Home." 



58 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

" The lift is high and blue. 

And the new moon glints through 
The bonnie corn-stooks o' Strathairly, 

My ship's in Largo Bay, 

And I ken it weel the way 
Up the steep, steep brae o' Strathairly. 

" When I sailed ower the sea, 
A laddie bold and free, 
The corn sprang green on Strathairly. 
When I come back again, 
'Tis an auld man walks his lane, 
Slow and sad through the fields o' Strathairly. 
* ***** 

" O, the lands' fine, fine ! 

I could buy it a' for mine; 
My gowd's yellow as the stocks o' Strathairly ; 

But I fain yon lad wad be, 

That sailed ower the sail sea. 
As the dawn rose gray on Strathairly." 

It is needless, almost, to say that the Scots who became 
soldiers of fortune were all possessed of high courage and 
most of them were men of as pure chivalry and as noble as- 
pirations as any knight who ever followed Bruce at Bannock- 
burn or accompanied the Douglas when he started on his way 
to the Holy Land with the heart of his hero in charge. In 
a volume by John Mackay, of Herriesdale, entitled ''An old 
Scots' Brigade," and published at Edinburgh in 1885, is given 
a history of Mackay' s Regiment and the Scots Brigade which 
was organized in 1626 and served under Gustavus Adolphus, 
the famous king of Sweden, during part of the Thirty Years' 
war. This volume is full of stories of daring deeds and of 
acts of heroism which should inspire a feeling of pride in 
every Scottish reader, and it shows that a true chivalrous 
spirit animated all these gallant soldiers of fortune from the 
t.tled chief himself down to the humblest private who trailed 
a pike. The following account of the defense of Boitzen- 
burg in 1627 by a handful of the men of this command may- 
be regarded simply as an example of a long list of equally 
brilliant achievements. *' On the third day after the depart- 
ure of Sir Donald Mackay with the main portion of the reg- 
iment, the approach of the enemy was announced. But 
Major Dunbar [afterwards killed at the defence of Breden- 
burg] had not been idle. He was well versed in the theory 
as well as in the sterner practice of war and had every quali- 
fication for a commander. He left nothing undone that 
would enable him to defend his post like a man of honor. 
He undermined the bridge, repaired the weak places in the 



THE SCJT ABROAD. 59 

walls, and erected a strong sconce on the Liineberg side of 
the town. This sconce the enemy resolved to storm. Once 
across the Elbe, the rich and fertile plains of Holstein could 
be easily overrun and would be entirely at their mercy. The 
small garrison of Highlanders numbered only about 800 men 
while the attacking force was at least 10,000 strong. The 
first night a gallant and successful sortie was made under 
the personal leadership of Major Dunbar, and after inflict- 
ing a severe punishment on the advanced posts of the Im- 
perialists, the little band returned to the town with scarcely 
any loss. The enemy were determined to be avenged for 
this, and on the following day attacked the sconce at all 
points, but after a long and desperate struggle were beaten 
off with a loss of over 500 men. But fresh troops were 
pressed forward, and again the attack was renewed with in- 
creased fury ; the front rank rushed on, and with hatchets 
attempted to force a passage through the palisades ; then 
the artillery opened fire, and every now and then a heavy 
cannon shot would boom overhead or crash among the roofs 
of the houses, or with a dull heavy, thud, sink into the turf 
breastwork of the sconce. The defenders replied with their 
brass culverins, and every shot must have made a frightful 
lane through the dense column of attack. A close and 
deadly fire, too, was poured by the Highland musketeers upon 
the Imperialists and though the latter replied with equal ra- 
pidity yet could not with equal effect, for the Highlanders 
were protected breast high by the earthen parapets, while 
the assailants were wholly exposed. The whole fort was 
soon enveloped in smoke, the enemy could not be seen, but 
the crash of their axes was heard among the falling palisades 
and the cries of the wounded told of the fearful carnage. 
The Imperialists were baffled and again fell back. But a 
third and even more desperate attempt was made to carry 
the sconce. * * * The storming parties came on in great 
force and made a most vigorous assault, but the firing of the 
Highland musketeers once more told with deadly effect. 
The thunder of the enemy's artillery was incessant, yet the 
shot did more damage to the houses of the deserted town 
than to the earthworks of the sconce. Again the culverins 
were brought into play, and, under Dunbar's directions, did 
dreadful execution on the Imperialists, but in spite of this 
they continued to press on, and the gaps made in their ranks 



6o SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

by the well-d'rected fire of the Highlanders were constantly 
and steadily filled up. The loss, however, was not all on the 
side of the enemy, many of the defenders were killed and a 
large number wounded. But after a time the firing of the 
Highlanders slackened and then suddenly ceased. Their 
supply of ammunition was exhausted ! The Imperialists, 
surprised at the unexpected silence on the part of the de- 
fenders, instinctively guessed the cause and redoubling their 
efforts, made a rush at the walls. The Highlanders, for a 
moment, were at their wit's end, but the energy of despair 
prompted them. They tore the sand from the ramparts, and 
threw it in the eyes of their assailants as they attempted to 
scale the walls, and then furiously attacking them with the 
butt ends of their muskets, drove them from the sconce. 
But it was a dreadful struggle. At last the trumpets of the 
enemy sounded the retreat, the storming party fell back, the 
fire of the artillery ceased and Boitzenburg was saved." 

Instances of individual heroism on the part of Sir Donald 
Mackay, Sir John Hepburn and the officers and men under 
their charge are frequently given in the same work, and after 
the battle of Leipzig the Scots Brigade was publicly thanked 
by Gustavus Adolphus for its brilliant services in presence 
of the whole army. Even the chaplains were soldiers of 
fortune as well as preachers. One of them, whose name is 
not recorded, was massacred when the castle of Bredenburg 
was taken by Tilly. Another, the Rev. William Forbes, is 
described in the old record very significantly as " a preacher 
for soldiers, yea and a captaine in neede, to lead soldiers on 
a good occasion, being full of courage and discretion and 
good conduct beyond some captaines I have known who were 
not so capable as he." This good man managed to escape 
the perils of war and became minister of the Scots Church 
at the Hague, where he died. A third chaplain was the 
Rev. Murdoch Mackenzie, aftenvards minister of Suddie, 
Ross-shire, and one of the Commissioners to the Assembly 
in 1643, 1644 and 1649. In the course of their campaign 
the Highlanders met with many of their countrymen, who 
like themselves were in search of fame and fortune on the 
continent. At Urbowe in Sweden, they encountered "that 
worthy cavalier Colonel Alexander Hamilton, being then 
imployed in making of cannon and fire-workes for his ma- 
jesty." This gentleman, Mr. John Mackay informs us, was 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 6 1 

'' Sir Alexander Hamilton, of Redhouse, a celebrated artil- 
lerist, whose cannon were long famous in Germany ; and 
guns made on his principle and known as canon d la Suedois 
were used in the French army till 1780. He returned to 
Scotland, became famous in the wars of the Covenant and 
was killed by an explosion at the castle of Dunglass." 
Sometimes these fighting Scots were brought face to face 
with their own countrymen fighting on the opposite side. 
The same writer says '' It must have been trying to our 
countrymen to encounter brother Scots in the forces to 
which they were opposed, but when passions are aroused, 
even the closest ties are sometimes forgotten. Munro 
gives an instance of this. He says : ' There was a Scot- 
tish gentleman under the enemy who, coming to scale the 
walls, said aloud, ' Have with you, gentlemen, thinke not 
you are in the streets of Edinburgh bravading;' one of his 
own countrymen thrusting him through the body with a 
pike, he ended there.' He ended there is rather a quaint 
way of saying that the wound inflicted was mortal. But 
this is only one of the horrors of war." 

The Scot Abroad, however, was not always so fortunate as 
to win battles, found families, or even to maintain positions 
of honor, and a painful illustration of this is furnished by the 
career of Alexander Blackwell, a native of Aberdeen, where 
his father was a minister and principal of Marischal College. 
Blackwell studied medicine and graduated at Leyden. We 
next hear of him as being engaged in business in London as 
a printer. This venture was not successful, and in 1734 he 
became bankrupt and was thrust into prison. During his 
incarceration his wife supported him by her literary labors 
and eventually secured his discharge. In 1740 he was in- 
vited to settle in Sweden, one of his works having attracted 
the attention of the king of that country, and, proceeding to 
Stockholm, he received a pension and was otherwise com- 
fortably provided for. His medical knowledge was of value 
to him in his new sphere, and having cured the king of a 
serious malady he was appointed one of the royal physicians, 
and became an influential favorite *at court. In 1748, how- 
ever, he was suddenly arrested on a charge of treason 
against the king and the government, and after being 
tortured was broken on the wheel. He protested his 
innocence to the last and was doubtless a victim to the 



62 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

jealousy of some of those whom he had eclipsed in the 
royal favor. 

The most il'.ustrious of the Scottish soldiers of fortune 
who won renown on the continent of Europe was Field Mar- 
shal Keith. This warrior was the second son of ninth Earl 
Marischal of Aberdeenshire. Along with his elder brother 
he took part in the Jacobite rebellion of 17 15, and being on 
the losing side, made his escape to France, when that ill-con- 
cocted rising was suppressed. The family estates were con- 
fiscated, the title was attainted, and the brothers found them- 
selves poor as well as landless. In 17 19 they returned to 
Scotland on one of the ships of the fleet sent by the Spanish 
court to restore the Stuarts, and after the defeat of the High- 
land Jacobites and their foreign auxiliaries were glad to es- 
cape again from their native land. The elder brother entered 
the Prussian service and attained a position of both honor 
and emolument. In 1759, while ambassador from Prussia 
at the court of Spain, he was pardoned by the British Govern- 
ment in return for some political secrets which he communi- 
cated. Soon afterwards he returned to Scotland on a visit, 
and purchased a portion of the old estate of his family, but 
declined to receive back the attainted family titles. He died 
in Prussia in 1778. His brother James (Marshal) Keith, 
after making his escape from Scotland in 17 19, entered the 
Spanish service, but on account of his adherence to Pro- 
testantism was debarred from advancement. Then he prof- 
ferred his sword to Russia and received a commission as 
major-general. In the Russian military service Keith 
acquired much distinction, but finding it not exactly to his 
liking he transferred his allegiance to Prussia in 1747. 
Frederick the Great received him gladly and conferred on 
him the baton of a field marshal. From that time until his 
death he seems never to have sheathed his sword, and his 
services were equally brilliant whether in the decisive victory 
at Rossbach, or in the midst of disaster and retreat. His 
last battle was that of Hochkirch, in 1758, where the Prussian 
army was defeated by the Austrian force, and Marshal Keith 
was shot through the heart while gallantly fighting his way 
from the field. 

The Scot Abroad has been as successful as a statesman as 
well as in the more brilliant role of a soldier. An example 
of this is to be found in the career of Principal Carstaires. 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 63 

That great and good man was born at Cathcart, now a part 
of Glasgow, in 1649. He was educated for the ministry at 
the University of Edinburgh, and in 1673 went to Utrecht 
with the view of completing his theological studies. While 
in Holland, his attainments and character drew to him the 
attention of William, Prince of Oiange (afterward William 
HI.) and he became the confidant and adviser of that ruler 
in regard to British affairs. In 1682 William sent him to 
London on a secret mission, and while there he was arrested 
for complicity in the Rye House plot, by which Charles II. 
and his brother, afterwards James II., were to be murdered, 
and the succession to the throne brought nearer to Mary, 
the wife of the Prince of Orange. The plot was betrayed, 
Lord Russell and Algernon Sydney, two of its reputed leaclers, 
were executed. Lord Essex, another of the confederates, 
committed suicide in the tower, the Duke of Monmouth fled 
to the Continent, and many of those of lesser degree were 
brought to the torture. Among the latter was Carstaires. 
It was known by the British court that the Scotch clergyman 
enjoyed the entire confidence of the Prince of Orange, and 
that he was in possession of state secrets of the utmost im- 
portance at that critical juncture in the history of Britain. 
Threats, or promises of reward, failed to make him reveal 
any of these, and even the application of torture did not 
cause him to waver in his fidelity to the Prince. The boot 
and the thumbscrew combined were not equal to his forti- 
tude. In 1685 he returned to Holland and continued to 
watch carefully the state of opinion and the progress of 
events in Britain until 1688, when on his advice, William 
went over to England and carried out the Revolution. He 
crossed over from Holland in the same vessel, and conduct- 
ed, at the head of the army, the religious services which 
marked the first day's occupancy of the soil of Britain, and 
during the negotiations, movements and developments which 
followed, he was the most trusted, as he was the most 
sagacious, honest, far-seeing, and fearless of the new King's 
councillors and friends. When the affairs of England were 
in a measure settled, Carstaires returned to Scotland, and it 
was his wise influence, exerted on the king on the one hand 
and the clerical party — the General Assembly — on the other 
that enabled Presbyterianism to find itself finally established 
in Scotland on a firm and enduring settlement, and made 



64 



SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 



Episcopalianism forever an alien in the land. With the 
return of Carstaires to Scotland and his subsequent career 
there, this essay has nothing to do, as he no longer can be 
regarded as a Scot abroad, but I cannot forbear from 
quoting the tribute which Lord Macaulay has rendered to his 
memory. He says, in the History of England (vol. 3, page 
373, trade edition, New York): "William had, however, 
one Scottish adviser who deserved and possessed more 
influence than any of the ostensible ministers. This was 
Carstaires, one of the most remarkable men of that age. He 
united great scholastic attainments with great aptitude for 
civil business, and the firm faith and ardent zeal of a martyr 
with the shrewdness and suppleness of a consummate 
politician. In courage and fidelity he I'esembled Burnet, 
but he had, what Burnet wanted, judgment, self-command 
and a singular power for keeping secrets. There was no 
post to which he might not have aspired if he had been a 
layman or a priest of the Church of England. But a Pres- 
byterian clergyman could not hope to attain any high dignity, 
either in the north or in the south of the island. Carstaires 
was forced to content himself with the substance of power, 
and to leave the semblance to others. He was named 
chaplain to their majesties for Scotland, but wherever the 
king was, in England, in Ireland, in the Netherlands, there 
was this most trusty and most prudent of courtiers. He 
obtained from the royal bounty a modest competence, and 
he desired no more. But it was well known that he could 
be as formidable an enemy as any member of the cabinet, 
and he was designated at the public offices and in the ante- 
chambers of the palace by the significant nickname of the 
Cardinal." 

In the learned and literary circles of the continent of 
Europe, among the thousands of Scots who thronged the 
universities or walked in the dim and barred recesses of 
the cloisters, none acquired so much fame, or is held in 
fresher remembrance, than James Crichton, commonly 
spoken of as "the Admirable Crichton," and ''the Sir 
Philip Sydney of Scotland." The achievements recorded 
of this personage are really marvelous, but it is merely fair 
to say that, to a great extent their only authority is tradi- 
tion, and that around his memory the glamour of two 
centuries of romance and poetry has been thrown. He left 



THE scot ABROAt). 65 

behind no writings by which we might judge of his literary 
attainments, and the extravagant eulogies of most of his 
biographers almost make one feel inclined, sometimes, to 
doubt his very existence, were that fact not amply confirmed. 
At the same time the old proverb which says that where 
there is smoke there is sure to be a fire, rises to our memory, 
and we may well believe that to have won so much personal 
fame of an enduring quality, James Crichton must have 
been possessed of many grand qualities and to have towered 
intellectually far above most of his contemporaries. He 
was born about the middle of the i6th century, and was the 
son of Robert Crichton, of Elliock, Perthshire, Lord Ad- 
vocate of Scotland from 1561 to 1573. He was sent to the 
University of St. Andrews, and before he reached his 
twentieth year had exhausted all the educational possibilities 
of that seat of learning. He became thoroughly acquainted 
with all the then known sciences and was master of ten 
languages. But in addition to all these acquirements, the 
possession of which would have occupied an ordinary life- 
time, Crichton was an adept in ,all manly sports and the 
very embodim^ent of an accomplished knight. He left his 
native land and wandered over the continent in search of 
learned encounters with the talented men of the universities, 
but failed to find one whom, in a discussion on theology, 
philosophy, morals or science, he could not easily over- 
throw. His " disputations" at such centres of thought as 
Paris, Venice, Padua, Mantua and Rome excited amaze- 
ment, and wherever he went great crowds of students 
gathered to listen to the wondrous words of wisdom which 
fell from his lips, and to observe the ease with which he 
refuted the arguments of his learned opponents. Being 
possessed of remarkable personal beauty and having all the 
exterior accomplishments which used to make up a chiv- 
alrous gentleman, it may easily be understood that Crichton 
was a favorite with the ladies, and one of his love affairs 
led him to fight a duel with a gentleman who was regarded 
as the most famous of Mantua's warriors. Crichton in this 
encounter was successful, and so added to his reputation 
that of being a gallant knight. Such a prodigy as this could 
not live long, and his very excessive observance of chiv- 
alrous courtesy brought about his end. The Duke of 
Mantua appointed him preceptor to his son Vincentio, a 



66 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

dissolute young scamp. One night, when engaged in a love 
adventure, Crichton was attacked in a side street by half a 
dozen men in masks, but he routed them so successfully 
that their leader threw off his disguise and begged him to 
desist. Crichton saw that his opponent was none other than 
his pupil Vincentio, and dropping on his knees, begged 
forgiveness and offered his sword. Vincentio took the 
weapon, and at once plunged it into Crichton's body, kill- 
ing him on the spot. 

It is possible that the talents and courage ascribed to 
Crichton by tradition, are a sort of tribute to the fair fame of 
the Scots nation in Europe, particularly in intellectual circles. 
That Scottish scholarship ranked high on the continent 
during the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, there is no reason 
to doubt. In Tytler's " History of Scotland" we read : — 
''Scotland produces scholars whose reputation stood high in 
the schools [of theology]. Richard, a prior of St. Victor's 
at Paris, and Adam, a canon regular of the Order of Pre- 
monstratenses, illuminated the middle of the thirteenth 
century by voluminous expositions upon the Prophecies, the 
Apocalypse and the Trinity ; by treatises on the threefold 
nature of contemplation ; and soliloquies on the composition 
and essence of the soul ; while during the second age of the 
scholastic theology, John Duns delivered lectures at Oxford 
to thirty thousand students. In the exact sciences, John 
Holybush, better known by his scholastic appellation, Joannes 
de Sacroboseo, acquired during the thirteenth century a 
high reputation from his famous treatise on the Sphere, as 
well as by various other mathematical and philosophical 
lucubrations, and although claimed by three different coun- 
tries, the arguments in favor of his being a Scotsman are not 
inferior to those asserted by England and Ireland * * * 
The consequent resort of [Scottish] students to France led 
to the foundation of the Scots College at Paris in the year 
1325 by David, Bishop of Moray — an eminent seminary 
which was soon replenished with students from every prov- 
ince in Scotland. * * * The records of the University 
of Paris afford evidence that, even at this early period, the 
Scottish students had not only distinguished themselves in 
the various branches of learning then cultivated, but had risen 
to some of the highest situations in this eminent seminary." 
In St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, is a brass memorial 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 67 

tablet bearing the following inscription : — '' In memory of 
John Craig, for many years a Dominican friar in Italy ; em- 
braced the Reformed faith, and was by the Inquisition at 
Rome condemned to be burnt ; escaping to his native coun- 
try, he became assistant to John Knox at St. Giles', and 
minister of the King's household. He was author of the 
King's Confession, or National Covenant of 1581. He 
died in Edinburgh in his eighty-ninth year." The inscrip- 
tion is surmounted on the left by the figures 15 12, and on 
the right by 1600 — the dates of his birth and death — while 
in the centre is a representation of a dog carrying a purse in 
its mouth, with the words "My all." John Craig, before 
going to Italy, was a Dominican friar in his native Scotland, 
but was suspected of heresy and lodged in prison. He 
managed to be released, and, retaining his standing in the 
church, went to Italy ; and at Bologna was intrusted with the 
education of novices. A perusal of Calvin's Institutes con- 
verted him to Protestantism and he openly avowed his accept- 
ance of the new doctrine. Pope Paul IV. sent him to the 
Inquisition at Rome, and there he was condemned to be 
burnt on 19th August, 1559, but on the i8th the Pope died, 
and being very unpopular, great riots occurred that evening 
in the city, in course of which the mob broke his statue in 
pieces and set fire to the Inquisition buildings. Craig then 
escaped, but was pursued by a band of Papal soldiers who 
came upon him. The leader, however, turned out to be an 
old soldier whom Craig had once befriended, and instead of 
capturing he assisted him to escape. He then had many weary 
wanderings, trials, and narrow escapes. The incident of the 
dog, commemorated on the tablet, is so marvelous that in 
these matter-of-fact days it will scarcely be credited. Even 
Spottiswoode in narrating Craig's life seems to have enter- 
tained doubts of the story being believed, and says : — " I 
should scarce relate, so incredible it seemeth, if to many of 
good place he himself had not often repeated it as a singular 
testimony of God's care of him, and this it was. When he 
had traveled some days, declining the highways out of 
fear, he came into a forest, a wild and desert place, and 
being sore wearied he lay down among some bushes on the 
side of a little brook to refresh himself. Laying there pen- 
sive and full of thoughts (for neither knew he in what he 
was, nor had he any means to bear him out of the way), a 



68 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

dog Cometh fawning, with a purse in his teeth, and lays it 
down before him. He, stricken with fear, riseth up, and 
looking about if any were coming that way, when he saw 
none, taketh it up, and construing the same to proceed from 
God's favorable providence towards him, followed his way 
till he came to a little village, where he met with some that 
were traveling to Vienna, in Austria, and changing his in- 
tended course, went in their company thither." 

Leaving Europe, we find that Scotsmen have played an 
equally important part in Asia. In India especially 
their services have been of the utmost importance in up- 
holding the supremacy of the British flag, as well as in 
developing the moral, intellectual and commercial progress of 
the land. India was, and is, a country of great chances 
and the Scots have taken full advantage of its opportunities. 
It is said that a Perth man once landed in Calcutta in search 
of fortune. He knew no one, but remembering that a 
schoolmate named McNaughton held a post under the East 
India Company, he hastened to the Government Building 
and entering its court was overcome by its extent and the 
evident number of its occupants. Not knowing what else 
to do, he stood in the centre of the square and called his old 
friend by his school-boy name — " Mac I Mac ! " and imme- 
diately a head, sometimes two or three, appeared at each 
window and a chorus of "What d'ye want?" startled the 
visitor. They were all " Macs." 

In the list of Indian administrations that of the Marquis of 
Dalhousie, from 1848 to 1855, stands out pre-eminent for 
its devotion to the best interests of the country. Under his 
wise leadership many magnificent public works were in- 
augurated, a cheap rate of postage was introduced, railways 
and telegraphs began to bring the people nearer to each 
other, splendid roads were laid out through the interior, and 
canals were opened. The social progress of the people was 
as earnestly regarded by this prince of administrators as any 
other of the details of wise government, and many reforms 
were instituted. But although the arts of peace were thus 
industriously fostered, the more brilliant deeds of war were 
not wanting to complete the record. A Sikh campaign, and 
one in Burmah, swelled the roll of Britain's Eastern triumphs 
and four great kingdoms — Punjab, Pega, Nagpur and Oude, 
were annexed to the Indian Government. Lord Dalhousie 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 69 

(the Laird o' Cockpen) was born at Dalhousie Castle, near 
Edinburgh, in 1812, and died there in i860, at the com- 
paratively early age of 48 years, leaving behind him a name 
which must ever retain a prominent position in the history 
of modern India. 

Among the Scottish heroes in India, one of the most 
prominent was Sir David Baird, "the hero of Seringapatam."' 
He was born at Newbyth in 1757. In 1772 he entered the 
army. In 1778 he was made a captain in the 73d High- 
landers (then just organized), and sailed with them to India 
His fighting career began in 1780, when Hyder Ali entered 
the Carnatie and commenced a bitter war with the British. 
Towards the close of the year one of the British armies was 
surprised in an ambuscade and almost annihilated. A few 
escaped death but were taken prisoners, and among these 
was Captain Baird, whose valor in the struggle had won for 
him the admiration of the European soldiers who acted 
among the officers of the enemy. He was carried to 
Seringapatam and thrust into a dungeon. The late Dean 
Ramsay, in his inimitable '' Reminiscences," tells a story 
in connection with this imprisonment which deserves to be 
retold. He says: "Mrs. Baird, of Newbyth, the mother 
of our distinguished countryman, the late General Sir David 
Baird, was always spoken of as a grand specimen of the 
class (of old Scotch ladies). When the news arrived from 
India of the gallant, but unfortunate, action of 1780 against 
Hyder Ali, in which her son, then Captain Baird, was en- 
gaged, it was stated that he and other officers had been 
taken prisoners and chained together two and two. The 
friends were careful in breaking such sad news to the 
mother of Captain Baird. When, however, she ^yas made 
fully to understand the position of her son and his gallant 
companions, disdaining all weak and useless expressions of 
her own grief, and knowing well the restless and athletic 
habits of her son, all she said was, ' Lord pity the chiel 
that's chained to our Davy.' " The Dean, in a footnote to 
this anecdote, says : ''It is but due to the memory of ' our 
Davy ' to state that ' the chiel ' to whom he was chained, in 
writing home to his friends, bore high testimony to the 
kindness and consideration with which he was treated by 
Captain Baird." The captives were released m 1784, and 
in 1789 Baird was able to pay a visit to his native land. In 



70 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

1791 he returned to India, and after four years' further 
service found himself a colonel. In 1798 he received his 
commission as major-general, and next year led the storm- 
ing party in the victorious assault on Seringapatam. His 
services on that occasion won him the admiration of the 
army and he received the thanks of the British Parliament. 
In 1800 he commanded the troops in an expedition to 
Batavia. During the remainder of his military career he 
added to the prestige of the British nation at the Cape of 
Good Hope, Copenhagen and Spain, In the latter country 
he served under a still more famous Scot, Sir John 
Moore, a Glasgow man, and when that gallant commander 
was killed at Corunna, Baird took command of the army. 
A short time afterward he retired from the service. Dur- 
ing his active career he received the thanks of Parliament 
no less than four times. In connection with the famous 
stronghold of Seringapatam the following may be deemed 
of interest, as it is quite in keeping with the theme of this 
essay. Who the author is I know not, as it came before me 
in the shape of a cutting from some newspaper : 

" Many years ago a landed proprietor in a mid-county of 
Scotland, whom we shall call Stewart of Stewartfield, was 
outlawed for homicide, and disappeared from the country, 
leaving no clue to his whereabouts. Time rolled on ; and 
there being still no tidings of the outlaw, his estate was 
placed under judicial custody, for the benefit of his repre- 
sentatives. After the lapse of many years the property was 
claimed by a near relative, who became proprietor, and who, 
in default of direct proof of the outlaw's death, is said to 
have tendered, on affidavit, the following circumstantial 
evidence of it, as related by the late Colonel Campbell of 
the 74th Highlanders. 

'* When Seringapatam was invested by the British forces in 
1 791, after the defeat of Tippoo Saib's army at the battle of 
Mallavelly, the Sultan sued for peace. AccQrdingly, a 
meeting of commissioners was arranged to take place within 
a garden-house in the immediate vicinity of the fortress, to 
draw up a treaty. The commissioners met ; and while their 
proceedings were being engrossed. Colonel Campbell, who 
was one of the British commissioners, sat intently gazing at 
the Mohammedan commissioner who sat opposite to him at 
the table. At length he exclaimed half-aloud to Colonel 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 7 1 

Edington, another commissioner : ' If Stewart of Stewart- 
field is alive, that's the man ; ' pointing at the same time to 
his Mohammedan vis-a-ifis. Although the remark must 
have been heard by the Mohammedan commissioner he 
made no sign ; but on the breaking up of the conference, and 
as Colonel Campbell was leaving the room, a voice whispered 
in English from behind him : * Don't look round, or it may 
cost me my life ; but meet me alone, outside the sally- 
gate at midnight to-mo'*row.' Notwithstanding the warning, 
Colonel Campbell was startled by the occurrence, and in- 
voluntarily looked round, and saw the same grave Moham- 
medan commissioner, whom he had suspected to be Stewart 
of Stewartfield, moving off in an opposite direction. Camp- 
bell kept the tryst at the spot named ; but the other party, 
whoever he was, never appeared. Cautious inquiries were 
subsequently instituted about the individual in question; but 
nothing was elicited ; nor was he again seen or heard of by 
any of the British officers to whom his features had pre- 
viously been familiar. It was surmised that his communi- 
cation with the British officer in his own tongue had been over- 
heard, and that probably he had- been assassinated as a 
traitor — the fate he had anticipated. 

" Not once, but several times have I seen a Scotchman in- 
advertently revealing himself under the garb of a Turk. A 
few years ago a venerable Mussulman was to be seen daily 
in the cool of the evening taking his solitary drive along the 
sea-beach at Madras in his palanquin carriage. Of course 
he was looked upon as a genuine son of the Prophet, until 
one day he was taken aback, as many people are, by the 
exorbitant demand made upon him in an European shop for 
some European article. His indignant feelings laughed at 
his disguise, and asserted their nationality in the strong 
Scotch expression : ' Gude save us ; it's no worth a baw- 
bee ! ' When on my way home, and when on board a small 
Turkish steamer in the Bay of Alexandria, we were having 
our luggage passed by two Turkish custom officers. I 
scanned the features of one of them, and ventured to say to 

my friend Major F , standing beside me : ' If I were a 

betting man, I would stake something upon that Turk being 
a Scotchman.' The official heard me ; and with a cunning 
leer, he turned to his companion, and evidently for my 
satisfaction, addressed him in the broadest Aberdonian dialect. 



72 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

*'A similar story is told of a Perth man who had penetrated 
into some far interior of Asia — we forget w^here ; he liad to 
see the Pacha, or Bashaw. He was introduced to the great 
man in his tent. They gathered up their knees, and sat 
down upon their carpets. They drank their strong coffee, 
and smoked their hookahs together in solemn silence ; few 
words, at any rate, passed between them, but, we may trust, 
sufficient for the occasion. When the man of Perth was 
about to leave, the Pacha also rose, and following him out- 
side the tent, said, in good strong Doric Scotch : ' I kenned 
ye vera weel in Perth ; ye are just sae-and-sae. ' The Perth 
man was astonished, as well he might be, until the Pacha 
exclaimed, as he said, ' I'm just a Perth man mysel'! ' He 
had travelled, and he had become of importance to the Gov- 
erment there. His story was not very creditable. In the 
expectation of the post he filled, he had become a Moham- 
medan. But he was an illustration of the ubiquity of his 
race." 

Another Scot, whose career had a greater influence upon 
India than is generally acknowledged or understood, was 
Sir Alexander Burness, a native of Montrose. His father, 
James Burness, w^as a cousin of Robert Burns, ^^ Scotia's 
darling poet." Burness entered the Indian service, and the 
rapidity with which he acquired a mastery of the Oriental 
languages and dialects marked him out for important service. 
In 1832 he was sent on a political mission into Central Asia, 
and, disguised as an Afghan, passed through Afghanistan to 
Persia, until he reached Bushire whence he re^embarked for 
India. His mission was a successful one, and he was pub- 
licly thanked by the Governor-General. In 1839 ^^ ^^'^^ 
appointed political agent or resident at Cabul, and was 
murdered in 1841 on the outbreak of an insurrection in that 
city. 

These three names, including the administrative, military 
and civil services, must suffice as representative examples of 
the men which Scotland has furnished to India. To go 
into detail and mention the Grants, Roses, Napiers, Camp- 
bells and others, would require volumes. In fact to de- 
scribe completely the services rendered to India by Scotch- 
men would necessitate the writing of its history. And this 
reminds me that the best history of India was written by 
James Mill, the son of a shoemaker in Montrose, and the 



THE SCOT ABROAD. J T) 

father of John Stuart Mill, the philosopher and political 
economist. 

On the sea as on land the Scot Abroad has added to his 
country's laurels, although by no means to the same extent. 
This is not a little singular considering the coast line of the 
country and the large proportion of its inhabitants who 
daily go down to the sea in ships — or fishing boats. But 
somehow the sea has always had a mournful, mysterious sig- 
nificance for the Scot. The wild waves of the Atlantic, as 
they dash with terrible impetuosity on the battered and 
gnarled western coast, or the awful surges of the German 
sea as they throw themselves on the eastern shore with 
deathlike venom arouse an eerie feeling in the minds of the 
onlooker, and impress him with a dread of the power which 
lies behind these forces and uses them as a child uses its 
toys. Then, too, the water is full of treachery. A placid 
inland sea like the Holy Loch, may lie like a mirror beneath 
the sun, with hardly a ripple on its glassy bosom, or a speck 
of foam on its fringes as they lazily lap its shores. Then 
almost as by magic the sky will become dark, a gruesome 
moaning will be heard, a sheet of lightning will flash across 
the lift, the thunder will rattle and re-echo among hundreds 
of hills, and the water be one ugly mass of struggling, seeth- 
ing, engrasping activity, in which no swimmer or boat can 
hope to live, and which ruthlessly sucks down into its greedy 
vortex all that was on its once placid surface. Then, as 
suddenly as it came, the storm will vanish, the sun will 
resume its monarchy in the heavens, and the water peace- 
fully look up to it as before. And so the story of treachery 
and desolation might be told of firth and loch, and sea and 
river, from Solway Sands to Duncansbay Head. 

The most prominent of the early mariners of Scotland 
was Sir Andrew Barton, whose last sea-fight was made the 
theme of a stirring ballad which is printed in Percy's *' Re- 
liques " and other collections. He belonged to a family 
that had long been noted for their knowledge of the sea and 
ships, so, when James IV., about the year 1509, made plans 
for the building of a navy, they were his chief advisers. 
Under their guidance the " Great Michael," one of the larg- 
est warships which the world had then seen was built. Its 
dimensions may be guessed when we find it stated that it 
carried 300 seamen and officers, 120 gunners, and 1,000 



74 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

soldiers. One of Andrew Barton's early exploits was an 
attack on some Dutch ships which had piratically plundered 
a number of Scotch merchant vessels. Barton with his 
squadrons captured or sunk most of the Dutch fleet and ex- 
ecuted such summary vengeance on the piratical knaves, as 
forced a degree of respect for the Scottish flag on all the 
maritime powers of Europe. Barton's last and most disas- 
trous fight was one which was undertaken at the close of a 
private campaign in search of booty. He, in company with 
the rest of his family, had fitted out some privateers, and 
proceeded against the Portuguese merchantmen. But the 
laws which governed the regularity or irregularity of ocean 
warfare were not very clearly established and that which 
held sway was — 

" The good old rule— the simple plan 
1 hat they should take who had the power, 
And thry should keep who can." 

So canny Andrew and his meii did not scruple much when a 
rich English merchantman sailed in their way to overhaul it, 
and take possession of a share, at least, of its freight. Scot- 
land and Eng-land for the time being were at peace, and the 
complaints of the merchantmen at their losses were hardly 
deemed of sufficient importance to form a casus belli. But 
the Earl of Surrey fitted out two ships, which he placed 
under the command of his two sons, Lord Thomas and Sir 
Edward Howard, and sent them in search of the redoubtable 
Sir Andrew. Their chase was a short one, for in the Downs 
they sighted Barton's ship, ^' The Lion," and a small pin- 
nace. The two English war vessels fell on the Scotch ships, 
and although the latter were unequally matched the fight 
was obstinate and prolonged. Sir Andrew was mortally 
wounded in the contest, but even when his life blood was 
ebbing away on the deck he encouraged his men to keep up 
the fight by speaking of St. Andrew's cross. Finally a cannon 
ball struck him in the body and he soon after died. Then 
the English seamen boarded *' The Lion," and taking ad- 
vantage of the momentary grief and confusion of the Scots at 
the loss of their captain, secured possession of the ship. Sir 
Andrew's last words are thus plaintively recorded in the old 
ballad ; 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 75 

" ' Fight on, my men,' Sir Andrew says, 
' A little I'm hurt but yet not slain ; 
But I'll lie down and bleed awhile 
And then I'll rise and fight again. 

Fight on, my men,' Sir Andrew says, 

'And never flinch before the foe 
And stand fast by ^t. Andrew's cross 

Until you hear my whistle blow.' 

They never heard his whistle blow 

Which made their hearts wax sore adread." 

Many people will hardly know whether to regard Sir An- 
drew as a hero or a pirate, and therefore we gladly turn to a 
more modern instance to represent the valor of the mari- 
time Scot Abroad. Adam Duncan, a native of Dundee, 
entered the British navy as a midshipman in 1746, and in 
1761, as captain of the 74-gun ship "Valiant," served under 
Admiral Keppel in the expedition against Havanna. In 1789 
he was made a rear-admiral, and in 1793 received the honor 
of being appointed a vice-admiral. Holland and France 
being then at war with Britain and Russia, Duncan was made 
commander of the united North Sea fleet of these latter 
countries, and his blockade of the Texel was so effective that 
it ruined the Dutch trade. In 1797 the Russian fleet hav- 
ing left him, he gained the greatest victory in his career 
when he defeated the Dutch fleet near Camperdown and 
took Admiral De Winter a prisoner. Duncan was raised to 
the peerage as Viscount Duncan, and received a pension of 
^2,000. He returned to Scotland and died there in 1804. 

Few careers, whether on land or sea, have been so full of 
variety, disappointment, troubles, and triumphs as that of 
Thomas Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald. He was bora in 1775 
and when in his teens was enrolled in the 104th Regiment. 
When seventeen years of age he entered the navy and in 
1800 was commander of the " Speedy," a 14-gun sloop of 
war. With it he took in ten months no fewer than 33 vessels, 
and in 1801 he captured the *'E1 Gamo," a Spanish frigate. 
In 1804 he became captain of the frigate '' Pallas," and in it 
made several valuable prizes while cruising oft" the Spanish 
coast. He was constantly engaged in deeds which won him 
the admiration of the service, and probably captured more 
valuable prizes than any other commander in the British 
navy at the time. In 1808 he volunteered to conduct the 
defence of Fort Trinidad on the Catalonian coast, and with 
only 80 men he defeated r,ooo Spaniards in an attack they 



76 



SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 



made on the castle. Then, after twelve days' persistent 
fighting against vastly superior numbers, he blew the place 
up and returned to his ship. In 1809 the Admiralty ordered 
him to try and burn the French fleet then lying at anchor 
blockaded in the Basque Roads, and he went on board a 
fire-ship containing 1,500 barrels of gunpowder and accom- 
plished his mission with complete success. Civic honors 
now flowed upon him and on returning to Britain he was 
knighted and elected M. P. for Westminster. His civic 
career was not a success owing to his out-spokenness and 
ignorance of the ways and wiles of the world. He accused 
one of his superiors in the navy, Lord Gambler, of incompe- 
tency. There seems to be no doubt that his charges were per- 
fectly true, but he could not fully substantiate them, and after 
a very partial trial Lord Gambler was acquitted. His lord- 
ship's influence, however, told severely against Cochrane and 
not only prevented his advancement in the navy but impaired 
his influence and social standing. In 1814 he was accused, 
very wrongfully, of having taken part in some fraudulent stock 
jobbing transactions and being found guilty after a mockery of 
a trial was sentenced to pay a fine of ^1,000 and suffer a 
year's imprisonment. He was also deprived of his knighthood, 
dismissed from the navy and expelled from the House of 
Commons. His Westminster constituents at once re-elected 
him, and having made his escape from prison he again made 
his appearance in the Commons. Growing tired of civil life 
he went to South America where he offered his sword to the 
republic of Chili and was made commander of its navy. 
This gave him the opportunity of again fighting his old 
enemies — the Spaniards. The success of the young republic 
was mainly due to his exertions and some of his deeds done 
in its service were as heroic as any that have ever been re- 
corded in the history of naval warfare. Then he went 
to Brazil where Dom Pedro gave him command of his fleet 
and made him a marquis. In 1827 and 1828 he played 
an active part on the side of the Greeks in their struggle for 
independence. His gallant career abroad had meanwhile 
endeared him to his countrymen at home, and as his inno- 
cence of the charges brought against him in 18 14 had long 
been clear, the British government, probably unconsciously 
exemplifying the truth of the old adage that "■ nothing suc- 
ceeds like success," restored hnn to his rank in the navy 



THE SCOT ABROAD. ^'] 

in 1830, and next year he succeeded to the earldom of 
Dundonald. In his profession he steadily rose, until in 
1854 he became rear-admiral of the United Kingdom and 
enjoyed other honors conferred upon him by his sovereign. 
But his fighting days were done. The best eighteen years of 
his life had been lost to Britain through the force of political 
malice and favoritism, and his latter days were spent in 
scientific pursuits. He died in i860 and was buried in 
Westminster Abbey, leaving behind him a name which will 
ever be honored in Great Britain. His life, however, was 
darkened by the unjust persecution of which he had been a 
victim and until the day of his death, he did not regard his 
later honors as an equivalent for the wrong which had been 
inflicted upon him. In 1877 ^^^ heirs presented a petition 
to the Queen, asking for compensation for his eighteen years' 
loss of pay as a naval officer, and the petition was granted, 
thus clearing the memory of the hero of whatever of the 
stigma still rested upon it, and acknowledging that a wrong 
had been done. But the acknowledgment was too late to be 
of value to him whom it concerned the most. 

Scotsmen have always been famous as travelers or dis- 
coverers in foreign lands and there is hardly a country, out- 
side of those in Europe, in which the prying, inquisitive eyes 
of our countrymen have not brought to light its history, 
antiquities, topography or manners and customs. And in all 
their travels the Scots are distinguished for the shrewd, prac- 
tical manner in which they generally turn their discoveries 
to account. It was Robert Fortune, a Berwickshire man, 
for instance, who introduced the tea plant from China into 
the northern provinces of India as a result of his travels and 
observations in both countries. He started in life as a 
journeyman gardener and rose until the Botanical Society of 
London sent him to China to explore botanically the north- 
ern part of that vast empire. His works on ('hina are among 
the best books yet written on the flowery kingdom, and as an 
authority on its botany and kindred studies he was regarded 
as without an equal. He died at London in 1880, honored 
and respected for his character and attainments by all the 
scientific circles in the metropolis. 

To attempt to enumerate the adventures, discoveries, es- 
capes, and heroism of Scottish travelers would require a series 
of volumes, and even a bare catalogue of their names would 



yS SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

swell this essay far beyond its intended limit. I will, there- 
fore, confine myself to one section of the world — Africa, the 
dark continent as it has been called — and briefly refer to a 
few of the men whose travels have helped, at least, to dissipate 
the gloom which so long hung over it and made it stand still, 
while the rest of the world progressed. 

William Lithgow, a quamt traveler, poet and prose writer, 
who was born at Lanark about 1582 and died there about 
1660, made a journey through the states along the northern 
coast of Africa. Lithgow was a most indefatigable traveler 
and journeyed on foot through Italy, Greece, Turkey, Pales- 
tine, Hungary and Poland. Once, at Malaga, he was ar- 
rested as a spy, and suffered terrible tortures, at least he tells 
us so himself. Modern critics, however, have made it rather 
fashionable to doubt the strictness of Lithgow's veracity, and 
much of his published adventures is deemed fabulous. He 
seems to have been a very simple-minded, garrulous man 
whose adventures always had some foundation, although he 
may unconsciously have magnified several of them, as was 
generally the custom among early travelers. 

A later and better known traveler, was Mungo Park, who 
was born in 1771 at Fowlshiels, near Selkirk. Bred a physi- 
cian, but evidently imbued with a desire to be an explorer, 
he undertook a journey of discovery in Africa under the 
auspices of the London African Association in 1795. He 
was captured by a native king and treated with the utmost 
barbarity. When he got a chance he escaped from captivity 
and after a series of extraordinary adventures reached 
Mandingo where he lay ill for many weeks. In 1797 he 
returned to Britain and published an account of his travels, 
and the work created a great amount of interest. Thinking 
he had done enough, he married and settled at Peebles as a 
physician. But the quiet of home-life soon palled upon him 
and the fact that he had been unable to discover the source 
of the Niger, the object of his first journey, made him long 
for another opportunity of achieving success. In 1805, there- 
fore, he undertook to lead another African expedition at the 
expense of the government. From that journey he never 
returned, as with some of his companions he was either 
murdered by the natives while sailing up the Niger, or was 
drowned while navigating one of its narrow channels. Al- 
though unsuccessful in the main purpose of his journeying, 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 79 

Park did good service to Africa, as by his writings he in- 
vested it with a great degree of popular interest, while he 
threw considerable light on the meteorology and botany of 
the sections through which he passed. 

Another explorer, a contemporary whose African travels 
created more excitement than Park's, was James Bruce, of 
Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, where he was born in 1730. He was 
educated for the bar, but finding the law hardly to his taste 
he prepared to go to India with the view of engaging in busi- 
ness. Circumstances so shaped themselves, however, that 
he found himself at Algiers in 1763 as British consul, and 
from that time dated his African travels, which were under- 
taken for the purpose of discovering the source of- the Nile. 
He returned to Britain in 1773, and henceforth lived the life 
of an educated country gentleman, fond of society and its 
pleasures, and a recognized virtuoso in matters pertainingto 
literature, science and art. From a picture in Kay's '* Edn- 
burgh Portraits " Bruce appears to have been a man of com- 
manding presence, over six feet in height and stout in pro- 
portion. His celebrated *' Travels" were not published until 
seventeen years after his return from Africa, and their state- 
ments were very generally ridiculed, and his facts were re- 
garded as so many fables devised for entertaining, instead of 
edifying the enlightened British public. Many people, in 
fact, refused to believe that Bruce had ever been in Abys- 
sinia at all, and it is said that the famous " Adventures of 
Baron Munchausen " was written as a satire upon himself 
and his travels. More recent travelers have verified Bruce's 
statements even to the most minute details, but the malicious 
criticism which assailed him gave the laird of Kinnaird a 
good deal of annoyance. In connection with this the follow- 
ing amusing anecdote was contributed by the late James 
Paterson, the Ayrshire historian, to Kay's '' Edinburgh Por- 
traits:'^ '' It is said that once, when on a visit to a relative in 
East Lothian, a person present observed that it was impos- 
sible that the natives of Abyssinia could eat raw meat. 
Bruce very quietly left the room, and shortly afterward re- 
turned from the kitchen with a raw beef-steak, peppered and 
salted in the Abyssinian fashion. ' You will be pleased to 
eat this,' he said 'or fight me.' The gentleman preferred 
the former alternative, and with no good grace contrived to 
swallow the proffered delicacy. When he had finished, 



8o SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Bruce calmly observed ' Now, Sir, you will never again say 
it is impossible.'" Mr. Paterson also states that "Bruce 
took with him in his travels a telescope so large that it re- 
quired six men to carry it. He assigned the following reason 
to a friend — that, exclusive of its utility, it inspired the 
nations through which he passed with great awe, as they 
thought he had some immediate connection with heaven 
and they paid more attention to it than they did to himself." 
Bruce died in 1794 from the effects of an accident. 

Hugh Clapperton, the first European who penetrated into 
the interior of Africa from the Bight of Benin, was born at 
Annan, Dumfries-shire, in 1788. When seventeen years of 
age he was impressed into the British Navy and rose to the 
rank of lieutenant. His first African journey was under- 
taken in 1822 and had for its purpose the discovery of the 
source of the Niger. The expedition was unsuccessful and 
Clapperton returned to Britain. He started again in 1825 
and was on a fair way of attaining his great object when the 
hardships of the journey so affected his health that he died 
near Sakkatu in April, 1827. Clapperton by his writings 
contributed much to the stocK of information which the 
world possessed regarding the geography and climate of the 
interior of Africa, and of the manners and customs of many 
of its peoples. 

To mention the services to the cause of the advancement 
of Africa by such men as Dr. Robert Moffat and his more 
famous son-in-law, Dr. David Livingstone, seems needless 
as the stories of their lives have almost become household 
narratives, so wonderful are they for the exhibits they fur- 
nish of earnest, patient. Christian endeavor, backed by single- 
ness of purpose, heroism in action, and a sturdy determina- 
tion to triumph in their work, not merely for the glory it 
might win for themselves, but for bringing the heathen to a 
knowledge of Christ and removing from the continent the 
evils which slavery, ignorance and idolatry had so long held 
sway over it. Since they labored, Africa is no longer an un- 
known continent. Day after day its most secret places are 
being penetrated. Discovery and the Bible go hand in 
hand, and in every part of its vast territory Scottish mis- 
sionaries are to be found carrying the gospel message to all 
the people and bearing wherever they go a knowledge of 
civilization, liberty and the truest phase of life. If we look 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 8 1 

at the map of Africa to-day and compare it with the simple 
outline which did service only a quarter of a century ago we 
can understand the great advance which the continent has 
made during that brief epoch, and that advance has been 
brought about more by the efforts and courage of the Scot 
Abroad than by the travelers of all the other nations 
of the earth combined. 

Hitherto I have treated only of the Scot Abroad as an in- 
dividual, without noticing any of the many instances in 
which colonies of Scotsmen have gone to foreign lands, 
hoping by mutual assistance and continual intercourse to 
render the pangs of separation from the motherland less 
irksome. In another article (the Scot in America) I have 
mentioned some of these colonies which settled in the 
United States and Canada, and I will close this essay by re- 
calling another colony, the result of which was disastrous to 
all concerned and which created considerable ill-feeling in 
Scotland against the government of the day, and still con- 
tinues a dark blot upon the history of the reign of William 
of Orange. I refer to the famou§ Darien scheme of 1698. 
Briefly told, the story of this disastrous affair is as follows : 
William Paterson, a native of Tinwald, Dumfries-shire, the 
projector of the Bank of England, conceived the idea of 
founding a colony on the Isthmus of Panama. On paper 
the scheme looked well enough, as from its situation such a 
colony would be a central depot for the exchange of the 
commerce of both hemispheres. The matter at once caught 
the popular fancy in Scotland and the Darien company was 
established by an act of the Scottish Parliament in 1695. 
Sir Walter Scott thus describes the furore which the scheme 
created : ^'The hopes entertained of the profits to accrue 
from the speculation were in the last degree sanguine ; not 
even the Solemn League and Covenant was argued with 
more eager enthusiasm. Almost everyone who had or who 
could command any sum of ready money embarked it in the 
Indian and African Company ; many subscribed their all ; 
maidens threw in their portions, and widows whatever sums 
they could raise upon their dower to be repaid an hundred 
fold by the golden shower which was to descend upon the 
subscribers. Some sold estates to vest the money in the 
company's funds, and, so eager was the spirit of speculation 
that, when ^800,000 formed the whole circulating capital of 



82 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Scotland, half of that sum was vested in the Darien stock." 
In England ^300,000 was subscribed to the scheme, and 
^200,000 in Holland. King William III., however, who 
at first favored the scheme, thinking it would divert the at- 
tention of the Scottish people from several grievances (such 
as the massacre of Glencoe), soon turned his influence 
against it, and as a direct result of this the subscription 
promised in Holland was almost wholly withdrawn. Then 
in the English Parliament a bitter animosity was shown to 
the scheme and the old antagonism between England and 
Scotland was fanned into life again, the result being that the 
English subscription was also withdrawn. 

All this opposition, however, seems only to have acted 
as an incentive to the Scotch to carry out the scheme to 
maturity, and the eloquence of Paterson and his coadjutors 
inspired the people with the idea that their national honor 
was bound up in the project. The Scotch took the entire 
burden on their own shoulders and manfully pushed forward 
the necessary arrangements for organizing the colony. In 
July, 1698, five frigates, purchased from the Dutch, lay in 
Leith Roads, and in them 1,200 men embarked for the land 
of promise. They reached the Isthmus in safety. Land was 
at once purchased from the native princes, and the territory 
thus acquired was called New Caledonia. They laid out a 
site for a town, which was to bear the name of New Edin- 
burgh, and located a fort which they designated New St. 
Andrews. Their prospects seemed excellent.- The native 
rulers were kind and friendly, the harbor in front of their 
possessions was a magnificent one, and the weather was de- 
lightful. 

But the day-dream was soon over. The heat of the fol- 
lowing summer was intense, and pestilence and disease 
played sad havoc in the ranks of the colonists. Then their 
supplies failed before they could gather any harvest from 
the soil, and an appeal for aid to the other colonies in 
America, simply elicited the statement that the king had 
not sanctioned the colony and was ignorant of its purposes 
or designs. On these grounds the older settlements at 
Jamaica, New York and elsewhere, refused any assistance 
or even recognition, and the unfortunates were left to starve, 
so far as fraternal aid or charity were concerned. Under 
such circumstances the colony melted away. Most of them 



THE SCOT ABROAD. St, 

found rest beneath the soil of New Caledonia, and those 
who were able to leave wandered hither and thither in search 
of even the bare necessaries of life, glad to escape from the 
scene of their misery and failure. A few reached New York 
in a miserable condition and excited the sincere sympathy 
of the people. Meanwhile nothing of all this was known in 
Scotland, and another expedition was then being fitted out 
comprising 1,300 men. After a stormy passage, in which one 
of their ships was lost, this detachment arrived at the colony 
only to find it deserted and to experience the same ill for- 
tune that befel their predecessors. The Spaniards, too, in 
the surrounding country began to threaten and molest the 
colonists and the latter were glad when they were joined, a 
few months after their arrival, by Captain Campbell, of 
Plnab, and 300 men from his own estate, all of whom had 
been trained to the use of arms. The political friendship 
which King William had meantime manifested toward the 
king of Spain, had caused him to leave the colony even more 
severely alone than before, and it was with his passive con- 
sent, at least, that the Spaniards, who had from the beginning 
looked upon the settlement as an intrusion upon their rights 
and territory, determined to crush it out of existence. 
Captain Campbell and his soldiers offered a gallant resist- 
ance, but the presence of superior numbers around their 
stronghold and famine within, forced them to surrender to 
the enemy in six weeks. They had made a brave fight and 
the Spaniards proved as gallant conquerors. Says one 
writer: "Captain Campbell stood a siege near six weeks 
until almost all his officers were dead ; the enemy by their 
approaches had cut off his wells, and his balls were so far 
expended that he was obliged to melt the pewter dishes of 
the garrison into balls. The garrison then cap.tulated and 
obtained not only the common honors of war and security 
for the property of the company, but, as if they had been 
conquerors, exacted hostages for performance of the condi- 
tions. Captain Campbell also desired to be exempted from 
the capitulation, saying he was sure the Spaniards could not 
forgive him the mischief he had so lately done them. The 
brave, by their courage, often escape that death which they 
seem to provoke. Captain Campbell made his escape in 
his vessel, and stopping nowhere, arrived safely in New 
York, and from thence to Scotland where the company pre- 



84 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

sented him with a gold medal on which his valor was com- 
memorated." Of the colonists only thirty returned to Scot- 
land, and among these vras Paterson, the projector, whose 
chagrin over the failure of the scheme, made him for a 
time a lunatic. 

When the full story of the disaster was understood in Scot- 
land, a wail of anguish spread over the country, to be fol- 
lowed by a sentiment of bitter resentment against the king 
and his advisers. At Edinburgh, says Arnot in his history 
of the Scottish capital, " Violent addresses were presented 
to the king, and the mob were so outrageous that the Commis- 
sioners and officers of State found it prudent to retire for a 
few days, lest they should have fallen sacrifices to popular 
fury." 

It has become the fashion during recent years to exonerate 
King William from all blame in the Darien catastrophe, but 
truth is stronger than the arguments of special pleaders, 
and ^' Glencoe and Darien " remain as foul blots upon the 
story of his administration of affairs in Scotland. Lord 
Macaulay ridicules the scheme itself as being visionary, but 
no one who has read anything of the history of colonies will 
care to endorse that view. In the management of the 
scheme there were certainly grave errors, and the popular 
imagination aroused a degree of expectation which could 
hardly be immediately realized, but that is all which can be 
urged against it. Paterson himself was an honest believer 
in the project and suffered for his belief. The jealousy of 
England and Holland was too stiongly arrayed to permit 
William to give the colony the moral support which his 
Scottish subjects demanded, and so the scheme was sacri- 
ficed, to the disgust and dismay of the kingdom. In the 
whole matter, the king showed a heartlessness and indiffer- 
ence which even the charmed pen of Macaulay cannot fully 
explain away ; and the fugitives from the colonies received 
more genuine kindness from the hands of the conquering 
Spaniards than they did from the officials in America of the 
English king, simply because of his studied and selfish 
neglect. 

"The Scot Abroad" is a delightful theme, and one on 
which many authors have written. The subject is not yet ex- 
hausted nor will it be until the nation loses many of its 
grandest characteristics, and the national spirit has forever 



THE SCOT ABROAD. 85 

gone. Day after day, in every corner of the world, 
Scotsmen are weaving new links in the story ; and by their 
prowess, energy, steadfastness and devotedness in the army, 
the navy, trade, commerce, art and science, as well as in 
the religious and moral upbuilding of each community in 
which their lot is cast, they are continually adding new 
glories to their already brilliant record. If Scotsmen owe 
much to the kindly reception they seem to meet with 
throughout the world, they fully repay the debt wherever it 
has been contracted. What has been written in this paper 
is simply a hurried gleaning from many fields, a '* swatch " 
of what has been done, but it is sufficient to show that the 
Scot Abroad deserves well of his countrymen at home, and 
is entitled to kindly recognition among the factors which 
have preserved the fame of the nationality intact, when 
the course of time and the progress of events should almost 
have made it be regarded as only a small part of Great 
Britain. 



SOME SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. 

PERSEVERING, AMBITIOUS, LOGICAL, THOUGHTFUL. 

SCOTLAND is full of marked characteristics. Even its 
geographical outline is remarkable, and tells the story of 
the ravages of natural forces, and the wear and change of time, 
more completely than that of any other land which has yet 
been studied by geologists. Within its borders we find 
scenery of almost every description from the grim towering 
heights of the Grampians, sometimes crowned with snow all 
the year round, to the rich undulating hills of the south ; 
from the dark, bleak, haunted, mist-shrouded fastnesses of 
the Western Highlands, to the fertile, smiling valleys of the 
Lothians ; from the barren moor to the blossoming carse ; 
from the placid waters of the Tweed or the Esk to the stormy 
rush of the firths of Clyde or of Forth ; from the gentle 
loveliness of Loch Arrochar or Loch Katrine, to the moan- 
ing or the tumult of the waters of Loch Fyne or Loch Maree; 
from the treacherous sands of the Solway to the stern, lone- 
some promontory which for ages has defied the wildest 
battlings of the elements at Cape Wrath. Within the two 
oceans which beat against it on either side, the tourist can 
sojourn amid whatever variety of scene delights his fancy the 
most. He can roam over green-clad hills, climb cold frown- 
ing rocks bearing yet the marks of nature's fashioning, travel 
through lovely valleys, meander among pleasant meadows, 
sail on inland seas surrounded with the most romantic scen- 
ery which ever delighted the eye of painter or poet, or he 
can drop into cities having histories dating away back for 
centuries, and which still possess landmarks connecting 
those ancient days with these of the present year of grace. 

In a country whose geographical features are so full of 
characteristics, we may be certain that its people — the mak- 
ers of its history — possess marked idiosyncrasies, or individ- 
ualities, or positive qualities, in abundance, and really it is 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. 8/ 

more difficult to say what characteristics, which are worth 
having, may not be attributed to a thorough representative 
Scot, than to enumerate all those he is certain to possess. 1 
once met a Scot in New York, when he was applying to a well- 
known firm for a situation as bookkeeper. He had no more 
practical knowledge of bookkeeping than he had of Pata- 
gonian, but he was a man of sound intelligence and a good 
penman and arithmetician. He had been trained in a civil 
engineer's office in Glasgow and was rising rapidly until an 
unfortunate commercial disaster ruined his employer, pros- 
trated general business, and threw him, as well as many 
others, out of employment. He got his situation as book- 
keeper and held it for three years, when he managed to se- 
cure a position in an engineer's office. I suppose he must 
have kept the books of the establishment in a manner which 
satisfied his employers or they would not have retained his 
services so long. When I asked him, years afterwards, how 
he managed, he replied, " By using common sense, by being 
watchful and wary and aye thinkin'." Had he given a year 
to the consideration of the question he could not more aptly 
have defined or described the principal characteristics which 
have distinguished the Scotsmen who have risen to the head 
of the heap in whatever country they have chosen to make 
their home. Each nation on the earth has its quota of trav- 
elers, men who seek in other climes than their own the for- 
tune or adventure which have been denied to them at home. 
But among them all there are none who have been more 
generally successful, or have left so deep an impress wher- 
ever their footsteps have lingered, as those who first drew 
breath in the land of the heather and who have made the 
title of *' the Scot Abroad " synonymous with prudence, honor 
and triumph. 

As it would be impossible within the limits of an essay to 
describe all the characteristics of Scotsmen, I propose con- 
fining myself to the more salient, those which have had most 
to do with making up the national character as it is com- 
monly understood, and which have been the most important 
factors in moulding the social life of the people and shap- 
ing their national history. These characteristics are perse- 
verance, ambition, integrity, thoughtfulness, clannishness 
and conservatism. 

The first of these grand characteristics — if I may so call 



88 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

them — perseverance, is probably the most common of them 
all. On an old house which once stood on the West Bow in 
Edinburgh, there was a sculptured stone bearing the words 
"■ He yttholis overcummis," or as it has been translated " he 
that bears, or perseveres, overcomes." It is a grand old 
motto, and has cheered and encouraged many a Scot in days 
gone by when struggling through the hard and uncertain battle 
of life, and the great bulk of Scottish biography is made up 
of instances which prove the truth of the sentiment. Perse- 
verance is a splendid quality in all nations. In Scotland it 
is an essential one. Without it the people would never have 
overcome its natural disadvantages, its bleak moorlands, its 
northern location and its general poverty, and turned it into 
a centre for commerce, a busy, thriving mart of industry, 
and a potent factor for good in the daily progress of civili- 
zation. 

We read in the life of Robert Bruce, the hero-king, a strik- 
ing lesson on the value of perseverance. Those who have 
read the story — and what Scot has not — will remember how, 
defeated on every side, his followers slain or scattered and 
his hopes seemingly l)lasted for ever, that brave prince re- 
tired to the island of Rathlin on the Irish coast for safety 
and rest. While lying in his hut one day he observed a 
spider among the rafters industriously trying to connect Its 
web by means of a tiny cable from one beam to another. 
The slender cord broke, just as the connection seemed com- 
pleted, but without a moment's delay the insect proceeded to 
repair the damage by commencing a new cable. Seven 
times in succession the object of the worker was frustrated 
in the same manner, but at the end of the seventh time it 
commenced its task anew apparently as fresh and deter- 
mined as when it first began, and the eighth endeavor proved 
a complete success. Bruce, who had watched the mimic 
struggle with constantly increasing inteiest, was aroused 
from his own lethargy and inaction by what he had seen. 
He, too, had been defeated seven times like the spider, so he 
resolved to make another effort and to keep steadily to his 
task until its glorious purpose was achieved. The end was 
the victory at Bannockburn, and an acknowledged position 
for Scotland among the free states of the world. 

It was a spirit of indomitable perseverance that enabled 
William Chambers to struggle sturdily from the very depths 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. 89 

of poverty, until he became a successful and influential pub- 
lisher, a generous benefactor to his native town of Peebles, 
and chief magistrate of the capital of Scotland. Even after 
attaining the highest possible measure of success, ^' standing 
before kings" as he often quoted, and enjoying the honor 
and esteem of his countrymen, his natural quality of perse- 
verance remained unabated to the end. Up to the latest 
hour of his long life he was busy at work, improving his fav- 
orite periodical, contributing to its pages and directing its 
management with the same activity he possessed in the prime 
of manhood. Besides, his interest in public matters never 
ceased, and his latest work in that direction, the restoration 
of St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, was successfully com- 
pleted after involving a great amount of thought, anxiety and 
labor, just as his spirit was being freed from its worn-out 
body. A day or two before his death he received an intima- 
tion from the Crown stating that a baronetcy had been 
conferred upon him. Such an honor was never more worth- 
ily bestowed. For centuries to come the story of his bitter 
struggles in early life and his ultimate triumphs, will be told 
as a bright incentive to the youth of his native land and as 
another proof of the truth of his favorite maxim "He wha 
tholes overcomes." 

Scottish perseverance finds no better, nobler or more ap- 
propriate illustrations than in the history of the Covenanting 
struggles. There we find men, and women too, persevering 
in the endeavor to promote the truth as they believed it, 
imperilling all their worldly possessions, and offering up 
their lives freely, even willingly, if thereb}^ they might be re- 
garded even as ''witnesses" testifying to the undying love 
of their Heavenly Master, and ensuring the advancement of 
His Kingdom on earth. The sufferings of these worthies were 
something terrible, almost, it seemed, beyond the power of 
human endurance, and often enough the prospect was 
so gloomy that it almost appeared as though sunshine for them 
had forever passed away. These people bewailed the blind- 
ness and fiendishness of their persecutors, they mourned over 
the godlessness and degeneracy of their times, they cried 
aloud, with bitterness in their voices, as they saw the unright- 
eous triumph again and again, but I have never read in all 
my study of the actors in that awful succession of national 
tragedies, of any of them who lamented their own conditior, 



90 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

who murmured against the hardships they had to endure, or 
who doubted, even for a moment, the ultimate triumph of the 
cause they had at heart. ''What thinkest thou of thy hus- 
band now, woman ? " was the question put by Graham of 
Claverhouse to the wife of John Brown, the carrier of Priest- 
hill, after he had murdered her husband before her eyes. 
The woman wept bitterly, for she was but a woman, and her 
bread-winner and companion lay dead on the ground at her 
feet. But through her womanly weakness came the indomi- 
table spirit of the Covenant, and looking Claverhouse 
steadily in the face, she answered with a touch of pride, " I 
ever thought much good of him, but now more than ever." 
To her he was more now than a man — he was a martyr, a wit- 
ness for Christ. He had thrown off his mortality and 
assumed immortality, and testified to the truth with his blood. 
For him death had no sting, and the grave no victory. Need 
we wonder after reading this episode, to learn that the same 
night the widow with her children and mourning friends, 
amidst their tears, worshipped God in the bereaved house, 
and joined in this veritable psalm of triumph — 

" And now, even at this present time 

Mine head shall lifted be, 
Above all those that are my foes 

And round encompass me : 
Therefore unto his tabernacle 

I'll sacrifices bring 
Of joyfulness : I'll sing, yea, I 

To God shall praises sing," 

The Story of Alexander Peden, " Peden the Prophet " as 
he is still affectionately called by his countrymen, may briefly 
be told as an illustration of the perseverance which animated 
the Covenanting heroes. He was born in the parish of Sorn 
in 1626. When 30 years of age, he was appointed minister of 
the parish of New Luce in Galloway, and after preaching 
there for three years was ejected, in 1663, along with most of 
the other parish ministers in Scotland. As he left the pulpit 
of his church for the last time he closed the door carefully 
behind him and with his Bible in his hand said, with great 
solemnity, " In my Master's name I arrest thee ! that none 
ever enter thee but such as enter as I have done, by the 
door." ^ This is accredited as one of his prophecies, and cer- 
tain it is that no curate or indulged priest ever entered the 
pulpit, nor apparently did anyone try to enter it, until the 
troublous times were past, and the Revolution settlement 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. 9 1 

put an end to the persecutions. Peden's opposition to the 
Government's interference with religion was so defiant and 
so outspoken, that \varnings and threats could not make him 
be silent. He had entered the lists for a goodly fight, and 
had no fear for the result. He had his commission from the 
Lord and the Lord would carry him through in whatever way 
seemed to Him best. Glory, triumph, or happiness might all 
fail him here, but he was certain of them yonder. He re- 
garded himself as simply an instrument in the hands of the 
Almighty, and only asked prayerfully, beseechingly, to know 
His will, and to do His commands. Such were the sentiments 
that inspired this undaunted man, that enabled him to over- 
come all human weaknesses, and permitted him to look at the 
gallows as though it were a stepping stone to Paradise. The 
Privy Council at Edinburgh proclaimed him a rebel and 
declared his life and property forfeited, but he continued 
steadfastly to preach the gospel as it was given him to preach. 
His latest biographer, Mr. A. B Todd, of Cumnock, says — 
" He wandered up and down the country, principally among 
the wilds of Ayrshire, Dumfries, and Galloway, making also 
occasional visits to Ireland. Many and marvelous were the 
escapes which he had from the dragoons, who scoured the 
country in quest of him and the others who refused to com- 
ply with the prelatic party. In 1673, however, he was taken 
prisoner and, without a trial, was sent to the lonely fortress 
on the Bass Rock, where he remained for five long dreary 
years. He was then brought to trial, and, with sixty others, 
sentenced to perpetual banishment in Virginia, but, as Peden 
is said to have predicted, through some instrumentality not 
very well known, they were all set at liberty on their arrival 
iit Gravesend. Going then to London, where he stayed for 
several months, he returned to Scotland on the very day the 
Covenanters were so signally defeated and broken up at 
Bothwell Bridge. We cannot wait to recount his many re- 
maining wanderings and hair-breadth escapes from his pur- 
suers. The mists which brood so frequently over the lonely 
Glendyne, and the broad moors of Sanquhar, oft hid him 
from those who thirsted for his blood. The wald wastes of 
Avondale, the desolate Airsmoss, and the lonely and rugged 
hills around Muirkirk were his frequent hiding places." His 
last refuge was a miserable little cave on the brink of the 
Lugar river. There 



92 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

"Wrestling with God he pissed the hours away 
While his rapt eye p.crced the far future day, 

***** 
True to his God, mid scoffers, blood and strife ; 
Who, when day dawned, came here with weary feet 
Unmurrauringly, and sought this lone retreat. ' 

It was a terrible life to lead, one which might have made 
a strongman ask whether life really was worth living. But 
it was a priceless life to Peden. He never wavered, or 
turned his thoughts away from the grand work which he be- 
lieved God had given him to do. He had no thought of his 
own weakness, nor was he troubled about errors of judg- 
ment. God was with him and as he was His minister so He 
would keep him right. His faith was as that of a child, simple, 
sufficient and ample ; he had but one object — the regenera- 
tion of his country, and with it the overthrow of its perse- 
cutors. We can analyze his life and actions as we may, but 
the honesty of his purpose remains unquestioned. We may 
sneer at his sacrifices, but they were made in a holy cause. 
We may criticise his theology, detect flaws in his discourses, 
ridicule his pretensions to the gift of prophecy, and 
burlesque his manner of speech, but his theology was suf- 
ficient to make his life sublime and to inspire him with a 
belief that the prize of eternity was his. His prophesies, if 
so we may regard them, often came to pass, and his speech 
was always direct and straightforward. He was one of the 
highest types of manhood which that age of true men brings 
to our notice, and we can but faintly estimate what we owe 
to his heroism and his sturdy perseverance in the good fight. 

But for his indomitable perseverance, the Rev. Henry Dun- 
can, D.D., minister of Rnthwell, would never have been heard 
of beyond the confines of that little parish. But his energy 
was too strong to permit him to dream his life away in 
attending simply to the duties appertaining to his clerical 
position. He performed these services well and won the 
approval of even the most straightlaced among his flock, a 
class of critics who do not usually approve of clergymen 
meddling with matters outside of their calling. In theologi- 
cal circles he was recognized as a sturdy controversialist, a 
hater of socinianism, a man of thoroughly orthodox views, and 
an effective preacher. But these qualities would not have 
prevented his memory from slipping away into the dim 
recesses of the past, had they formed his sole claim to fame. 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. 93 

As it is, he will always hold a prominent place among the more 
eminent of his countrymen, as the founder of savings banks 
for the people. The condition of the laboring classes at the 
time he was inducted as minister of Ruthwell claimed his clos- 
est attention. He saw that these poor people were the reverse 
of prudent in husbanding their earnings, suffered frequently 
from commercial and agricultural depression, and carefully 
considered how he might benefit them. Most clergymen 
would have journeyed round the country soliciting aid from 
the wealthy in buildmg an institution of some sort, or devised 
some scheme in which the charity of the rich might come 
into play. But he chose a better plan, for he made the poor 
help themselves by g"iving them an opportunity for exemplify- 
ing the national thrift. In 18 10, he established the Ruth- 
well Savings Bank, as an institution in which the laborers 
might deposit what they could spare from their earnings, as 
a nest egg for the proverbial rainy day. Deposits were 
secure, a small rate of interest was allowed, and the scheme 
almost from its inception was a success. The experiment 
created much comment throughout the country, and its origi- 
nator was overwhelmed with enquiries from various points, 
as to its working, besides messages conveying criticisms, 
suggestions, schemes and all sorts of notions. At one period 
his annual expenditure for postage in connection with his 
correspondence cost him a hundred pounds, nearly one-half 
of his stipend as minister. But although the individual 
expense was heavy, he firmly believed that the work was 
worthy of it, and that if his plans were perfected he would 
have solved one of the social enigmas of the time. After 
a while. Dr. Duncan saw that if a general scheme of 
people's savings banks was to be a lasting and complete 
success, it would require to be under government super- 
vision with national security for all deposits, and he 
zealously set about accomplishing that end. This was an 
extraordinary, almost hopeless task for a man in his posi- 
tion, but he exerted himself to the uttermost, wrote, spoke, 
lectured and canvassed, until he reached the goal he had 
in view in 1819, when the Act of Parliament establishing 
savings banks in Scotland was passed. Even then he did 
not rest content. Daily experience with the details and 
workings of these institutions showed many defects, practice 
falsified many theories, new safeguards were found to be 



94 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Vere and there needed, details required, in many points, to 
be simplified. Dr. Duncan watched carefully over these, 
noting all defects, testing all schemes of improvement, and 
finally in 1835 S^^ another Act of Parliament passed, by 
which the savings banks were placed in almost perfect 
working order, and so crowned his labors with the most 
unqualified success. I question if any other Scottish clergy- 
man, before or since, was so successful in getting the 
Legislature of Britain to endorse his philanthropic or social 
schemes. Dr. Duncan proved himself a benefactor not 
only to his countrymen but to other nations, and so long as 
these magnificent institutions exist his memory is certain to 
be held in grateful remembrance. Dr. Duncan's energy 
was so great that it permitted him to enter into other fields 
of work, and to win success as a literary man when most 
engrossed in his banking studies. But even in his literary 
efforts the improvement of the social condition of the people 
W^s ever uppermost in his thoughts. His '' Scottish Cheap 
Repository," was a series of tracts on useful and moral 
topics, intended for the cottage fireside, and he wrote 
two or three rather pretentious novels, in which he incul- 
cated many of his favorite theories and maxims. As a 
novelist he was not a success, but as a controversial writer 
on religious or political topics he was unsurpassed in his 
time. He founded the Dumfries and Galhnvay Courier^ 
one of the most interesting of all Border newspapers and 
edited it for seven years. In 1839 he received the highest 
honor the Church of Scotland could confer upon him, by 
being elevated to the Moderatorship of the General Assem- 
bly. At the Disruption he came "out" and entered into 
the controversy in connection with that event with all his 
wonted energy. He continued to minister at Ruthwell, as 
pastor of the Free Church until 1846, when he was fatally 
stricken with paralysis while conducting a religious service. 
Dr. Duncan died in harness, if ever man did, and the end 
was in keeping with the restless, indomitable life of the 
clergyman and true philanthropist. During his career Dr. 
Duncan performed an immense amount of actual hard 
work, more than it seems possible for one man to do, and 
yet life had its lighter pleasures for him. In the quiet of 
his study he loved to " drop into poetry," and some of his 
effusions deserve more than a passing mention. In particu- 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. 95 

]ar he has left behind him one song, which is even to the present 
day the most popular of all curling ditties, and proves him 
to have been as keen a votary of the roarin' game as he was 
an adept in social science. 

" Up curler, frae your bed sae warm, 
And leave your coaxing wife, man, 
Gae get your besom, cramps, and stanes 

*And join the friendly strife, man. 
For on the water's face are met 

Wi' mony a merry joke, man 
The tenant and his jolly laird. 
The pastor and his flock, man, 
* * * * 

Now fill a bumper, fill but ane. 

And drink wi' social glee, man, 
May curlers on life's slippery rink, 

Frae cruel rubs be free, man, 
Or, should a treacherous bias lead 

Their erring course agee, man, 
Some friendly in-ring may they meet 

To guide them to the tee, man." 

It was this same spirit of perseverance that permitted the 
Ettrick Shepherd, on the hillside, to overcome the defects of 
his education and to rise superior to all obstacles until he 
became the acknowledged successor of Burns as high priest 
of Scottish song ; that carries so many hundreds of poor 
students at Scottish universities through their curriculum ; 
that made the late William McBean, of Inverness, 
rise from the station of drummer boy to that of lieutenant- 
general in the British army and colonel of the gallant 93d 
Sutherland Highlanders; that permitted James Watt to solve 
the problem of steam; that made Henry Bell construct his 
'' Comet;" that enabled a workingman like Hugh Miller to 
read the story of nature as depicted in the old red sandstone; 
that animated David Livingstone when engaged in solving 
the mysteries of 'Uhe dark continent;" and we find the same 
quality of perseverance represented in General Grant, an 
American soldier of undoubted Scottish descent, and illus- 
trated by him in a single sentence when he said, *' I intend 
to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." 

In organizations and in the nation the same quality is 
noticeable. The first Tay Bridge was no sooner destroyed 
than the company owning it began to take steps for the 
erection of another and stronger structure. The present 
condition of the Clyde, a stream which is wide enough and 
deep enough to bear on its bosom the largest merchant 
vessels of the world, is another instance. A century ago the 
Clyde was a sluggish stream, so shallow that it was fordable 



96 



SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 



often by men at the Broomielaw. Now, by dint of steady 
perseverance the river has been made one of the greatest of 
commercial highways. When we consider the history of this 
river, and understand the difficulties which have been over- 
come, and the amount of time, labor, thought and money 
which have been expended in its improvement, we may well 
believe that the saying of the old Scotch captain was neither 
very far wrong or irreverent. An American sailing down 
the Clyde began talking to the commander of the steamer 
about the superiority of the rivers in the United States. He 
extolled the Hudson, the Mississippi, the Ohio, and many 
others for their superior size, depth and other advantages. 
*'Aye," said the Scottish sailor after listening to the 
eulogism until he was tired, *'ye hae grand rivers, nae doot, 
an' I wadna misdoot a word ye hae said, but ye maun min' 
that God made the rivers ye speak o', but we made the 
Clyde." 

With perseverance, energy must also be classed. To 
some the words may seem synonymous, but in reality such 
is not the case. A man may persevere in doing nothmg or 
in debauchery, but in these and many other evil courses 
energy does not come into action ; a man needs no 
energy to make himself a drunkard, although he certainly 
needs perseverance, for a love for strong drink is not a nat- 
ural taste, but one which can only be acquired by practice. 
It is when the drunkard tries to reform that it is necessary 
for his perseverance to be supplemented by energy. Energy 
in well-doing is in most natures necessary to a continuance 
in well doing, and energy is oftentimes necessary to make 
perseverance a success. It was energy that enabled John 
Knox to accomplish more during the last fifteen years of 
his life than in all the forty-two he had lived before. It was 
the tireless energy of Thomas Chalmers and so many of the 
*' men '' of 1843, that organized the Free Church on a firm 
and enduring basis and made it start forth on its career, not 
with the faltering, tottering steps of a beginner, or the un- 
certain mumblings of a child, but with the sturdy step and 
deep resonant voice of a full-grown man, the equal at least 
of all its compeers and fully equipped at all points to wage 
war in defence of its rights and in defiance of evil. It was 
his indomitable, restless energy that enabled Henry Broug- 
ham to ascend the ladder of legal preferment in England in 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. ^7 

spite of the most disheartening obstacles, until he stood on 
the very highest rung as Lord High Chancellor. It was his 
energy, too, that permitted Francis Jeffrey to make the 
Edinburgh Review a literary and political power in Britain, 
although its place of publication was far removed from the 
centre of literary and political influences, and although it 
proclaimed the poverty of its founders by boldly announce- 
ing in its motto that they cultivated literature on a little oat- 
meal. The energy which Professor Blackie showed while 
conducting the movement for the establishment of a Gaelic 
chair in Edinburgh University was the main agent which 
led to its success, and the same genial professor's reputation 
as a literary man was, according to his own confession, due 
to his energy in publishing books which did not repay the 
bare mechanical cost of their production. 

But the most magnificent example of this resistless over- 
powering, all-conquering energy is to be found in the life of 
Sir Walter Scott when, after the failure of the Ballantynes 
and Constable, he assumed the task of wiping off honorably 
the vast load of indebtedness which had settled upon him. 
The story is a sad one to read, but it is a noble illustration of 
what a man can do when he essays a task in the right spirit. 
The year 1826 saw Scott a ruined man with liabilities 
amounting to about ^^150, 000. Everyone knew that he 
was not to blame for all this, that the follies of some and 
the mistakes of others, had done more to bring about the 
crisis than all the extravagances in land, and stone, and lime 
of the '' Author of Waverley." Had he adopted the ordin- 
ary course in such disasters he would have called together a 
meeting of his creditors and offered them a composition. In 
view of all the circumstances, there is no doubt that any 
offer he might have made would have readily been agreed to. 
But he declined such a method of escaping from his diffi- 
culties, and said that '' God granting him time and health he 
would owe no man a penny." So his beloved mansion of 
Abbotsford, the pride of his life, was closed up, and taking 
lodgings in Edinburgh, the good Sir Walter began his heroic 
task. Almost his only resource was his pen, yet so indus- 
triously did he ply it that within two years he earned a 
large amount for his creditors. A new edition of his col- 
lected novels, several new tales, the ponderous "Life of 
Napoleon," and countless minor works of varying degrees of 



9^ SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

excellence were the result of these years of sturdy labor. 
In December, 1830, the liabilities had been reduced by 
^^63,000, and the giant, although feeling the effects of his 
exertions both in mind and body, persevered in his effort. 
But the strain was too great for the man, nature completely 
revolted against it after repeated warnings, and in 1832 he 
closed his eyes forever on this world with the gentle mur- 
mur of the Tweed sounding a sweet lullaby in his ears, and 
afterward a plaintive coronach over his bier. Looking 
over what he accomplished during these later years it is al- 
most impossible to realize that one man could write so much 
on so widely diversified topics, and with so much originality, 
freshness and strength. It was certainly not equal in quality 
to the work of a decade before, but it was infinitely better 
than that of most writers in their prime. The exertion was 
an extraordinary one, but it cost a life. Yet it invests the 
closing years of the "Wizard of the North" with a title of 
true nobility far superior to that which his own worthless 
sovereign conferred upon him, and with a halo of glory 
which otherwise would have been wanting. It made his own 
life as thrilling a story as that of any of the characters he 
evoked from the recesses of his mighty brain. These last 
years, with all their harrowing experiences, sorrows and 
privations, were needed to bring out the strength and man- 
hood in Scott's character and to give his memory a tenderer 
and purer place in the hearts of his countrymen than even 
his writings could have done. 

Dourness m.ay also be classed under perseverance, although 
it is a word which, like several others in the Scottish vocab- 
ulary, can hardly be translated by a single equivalent. It 
has been defined as meaning hard, bitter, disagreeable, close- 
fisted, severe and stern, and a combination of all these, if 
it is possible to conceive of such a combination, would be 
the proper meaning of the word. Robert Burns doubtless 
thought old farmer Armour a typical specimen of a dour 
Scotsman, when the latter was hunting after him with the 
view of thrusting him into jail. Old Earl Archibald Bell- 
the-Cat was in a dour mood when, beside the fated bridge 
at Lauder in 1482, he uttered the words which gave him his 
cognomen and made him live in Scottish history. Queen 
Mary regarded John Knox as a particularly dour individual 
when he argued with her in Holyrood House, and she came 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. 99 

face to face with equally dour, although less polite oppo- 
nents in the men who forced her to sign her abdication in the 
lonely castle of Lochleven. A Highland tradition gives us 
a story of a dour chief. In the i6th century Gordon of 
Auchindoun, burned down the castle of Forbes of Corgarff, 
when 27 persons including the wife and family of the laird 
perished in the flames. After many years the differences be- 
tween the two chiefs were healed and, with their retainers, 
they sat down together at dinner in the castle of Drummuior. 
Through a mistake, Forbes' men in the midst of their repast 
drew their swords against the Gordons and killed many of 
them before their leaders could check the outbreak. When 
order was restored Forbes turned to Sir Adam Gordon and 
calmly said, " This is a sad tragedy. But what is done can- 
not be undone and the blood that now flows on the floor of 
Drummuior will just help to slocken the auld fire of Corgarff." 
This was truly dour enough reasoning. When Sir Patrick 
Gray demanded the body of his nephew, the Tutor of Bomby, 
from grim Earl Douglas and the latter took him out into the 
courtyard of his castle and oft'ered him the body, minus the 
head, of the unfortunate youth, he was the victim of a very 
dour jest. But dourness has its bright and wholesome as 
well as its dark and brutal side. The following extract from 
the autobiography of James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, 
shows how dourness stood him in good stead at one time 
when he was beginning to ^' speel the brae." ^' I had no 
method," he tells us, '' of learning to write save by following 
the Italian alphabet ; and though I often stripped myself of 
coat and vest when I began to pen a song, yet my wrist took 
a cramp, so that I could rarely make above four or five lines 
at a sitting. Whether my manner of writing it out was new 
I know not, but it was not without singularity. Having 
very little time to spare from my flock (of sheep), which was 
unruly enough, I folded and stitched a few sheets of paper 
which I carried in my pocket. I had no inkhorn, but in 
place of it, I borrowed a small vial, which I fixed in a hole 
in the breast of my waistcoat ; and having a cork fastened 
by a piece of twine it answered the purpose quite as well. 
Thus equipped, whenever a leisure minute or two offered, if 
I had nothing else to do, I sat down and wrote out my 
thoughts as I found them." Thus the dour determination 
to succeed was softened and mitigated by the intense com- 



lOO SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

placency and evident humor with which the poet surveyed 
his surroundings. Lord Braxfield, one of the strangest beings 
who ever sat on a judicial bench, had a dour maxim which he 
used to repeat with infinite zest, " Hang a thief when he's 
young an' he'll no steal when he's auld," and he passed a 
dour joke on a criminal before him who claimed to be a peer: 
" Nae doot, nae doot," he said, " ye're a peer, but gm ye 
dinna tak care ye' 11 be a peer o' anither tree." Sir Walter 
Scott tells a story of a dour Highlandman, who, on his 
death bed was urged to forgive all his enemies. This he 
agreed to do with one exception. The attending minister 
implored him to make his forgiveness complete, saymg, 
" Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." The dying man an- 
swered, *' To be sure it is too sweet a morsel for a mortal. 
Well, I forgive him, but the Deil take you, Donald (turning 
to his son) if you forgive him." 

Dour is one of the oldest and purest v/ords in the Scottish 
vocabulary. It was used by Barbour, Lindsay, Douglas 
and others of the poets in what has been termed the Augustan 
age of Scottish poetry. Moreover it has retained the same 
pronunciation during all the changes in speech since then, 
as well as the meaning it had in the earliest times — stern, 
bold, fierce. So, too. Burns uses it with perfect propriety in 
describing a wintry wind — 

" Biting Boreas, fell and dour." 

But with the characteristic dourness of the Scot, there is at 
times a dash of humor, although it is too often so grim as to 
be almost imperceptible to one not to the manor born. John 
Knox was a dour man, but humor was not one of the least 
important tra'ts in his character, and his modern worshipper, 
Thomas Carlyle, was noted for his grim yet quaint humor, 
although dyspepsia tried hard to smother it. Dourness is a 
desirable quality for any man, or woman either, to possess, 
but to be really of practical service it must be tempered or 
offset by some other characteristic. A man who is simply 
dour and nothing else is unfit to be trusted in any society, 
and ought not to be permitted to remain at large. 

Ambition, in which may be included pride, is another of 
the main characteristics of the Scottish people. There are 
few Scots, no matter how humble, who do not possess this 
quality, and its existence is one of the most important 
factors in promoting the welfare and wealth of the nation 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. lOI 

Even the poorest Scots are imbued with an ambition to rise, 
and not only that, they also cherish a hope that in the future 
they will rise. '' Hope wee! an' hae weel," says the old pro- 
verb, and it has been evolved out of the homely, experienced 
wisdom of the people. When a Scot loses hope he loses 
everything and is no longer of the slightest use in this world, 
except it be, perhaps, to pose as an horrible example of hope-' 
iessness. 

It has long been one of the most sacred ambitions of a 
Scot's life to give his children a little better education than 
he had received himself, and in all the simple annals of the 
poor with which I am acquainted, there is nothing more 
devoted, more touching, or more noble, than the sacrifices 
which parents have made to push their children forward in 
the battle of life. I have known fathers and mothers pinch- 
ing, scraping, saving, even denying themselves the actual 
necessaries of life to maintain a son at college, strengthened 
and sustained by the hope, that that son would one day 
" wag his pow in a poopit," or at all events acquire honor- 
able distinction in some of the higher ranks of life. And of 
how honorably these sons have. acted their parts in the 
struggle, every university in Scotland can furnish thousands 
of illustrations. Ambition is a noble characteristic in any 
people when rightly directed, and in the Scot, as a rule, it is 
generally so developed that it reflects honor on himself and 
his country, and is of direct benefit to the world. It was 
the ambition of Burns — 

" That I for poor auld Scotland's sake 
Some usefu' plan or book could make, 

Or sing a sang at least," 

that made him become the master singer of his native land. 
It was ambition that led Alexander Wilson, the Paisley poet, 
to study in the recesses of the American forests the habits, 
plumage, and varieties of the native birds and so earn for 
himself the title of "American Ornithologist." It was ambi- 
tion that enabled Paul Jones to rise until he became the naval 
hero of the American revolution. It was ambition that kept 
poor David Gray, the poet of Merkland, alive until the publi- 
cation of his first and only volume of verse was arranged 
for. It was ambition that sustained Colin Campbell, a 
penniless subaltern, until he wielded the baton of a field- 
marshal ao'd became a peer of the realm. It was ambition 
that led WilHam Paterson to found the Bank of England, to 



I02 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

organize the Darien scheme, by which he and so many of 
his countrymen were ruined through the treachery of William 
of Orange, and made him the first representative in the 
parliament of the United Kingdom of the Dumfries burghs. 
But it must be remembered that in Scotsmen, as in people 
of other nationalities, ambition is not always productive of 
happy results either to the individual or the nation. John 
Law, an Edinburgh man, who was for a time Comptroller- 
General of the Finance in France, is a case in point. His 
father was a goldsmith and banker in Auld Reekie, and John 
conceived the idea that he was a born financier aud his am- 
bition was to make a name for himself as such in the world. 
And he did. In 1700 he tried to get the Scottish parliament 
to adopt a system of paper currency, but the hard headed 
Caledonian legislators believed in hearing the '* clink of the 
siller," and refused to endorse his plan. Then he went to 
the Continent and became a gambler and made a fortune. 
This did not suit his ambition, however, and he concocted 
several banking schemes which he offered unsuccessfully to 
different governments. In 17 16 he opened a private bank in 
Paris, and it became so successful that a national bank was 
established on a similar basis. In 1719 Law started his re- 
nowned Mississippi scheme, which soon involved so many 
thousands of people in Scotland, England and France in 
ruin. It enjoyed a brief hey-day of success, however, and 
while that lasted Law's influence in France was unbounded. 
He was made a Councillor of State, besides being placed in 
charge of the finances of the nation. When the bubble burst, 
the ruin of the financier was as complete as that of any of 
the victims. He fled from France penniless, and becoming a 
very ordinary gambler once more, led a miserable existence 
in Venice, until 1729, when he died in the most abject 
poverty. The history of Scotland furnishes many illustra- 
tions of this "vaulting ambition that o'er leaps itself," and 
perhaps one of the most notable is that of Robert Cochrane, 
a mason in the reign of James III. This man, who certainly 
possessed brains as well as ambition, somehow managed to 
so ingratiate himself into the good graces of his weak-mind- 
ed king that he became his principal confidant and adviser. 
His ambition seems to have been to become the leading 
subject of the kingdom, or rather to rule the country with 
the king as a figurehead. Through his machinations, the 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. IO3 

Earl of Mar, a younger brother of the king was put to death, 
and his title and estate were bestowed on Cochrane. The 
acceptance of these was certainly an error of judgment on 
his part, for he had hardly been invested with them than the 
nobility began hatching schemes to get rid of him. They soon 
succeeded and under the leadership of the grim Earl of Angus 
hanged Cochrane and several of his friends over the old 
bridge at Lauder in 1482. Cochrane, althoug-h greedy, 
scheming and vindictive, evidently possessed abilities, but 
the nobility deemed him an upstart. Whatever his faults 
may have been, however, they were no worse than those which 
characterized the very men who deemed him unfit to live. If 
it were necessary to present more illustrations of this phase 
and result of ambition, the annals of the peerage of Scot- 
land from the beginning until almost the present day would 
furnish a plentiful crop. 

We may now proceed to consider the Scot as a logical 
being and in this connection we behold him like the sun, 
shining not merely for himself but for all. The cool, cal- 
culating, practical nature of the Scotsman has often been 
commented upon, possibly more so than any other of his 
recognized characteristics, for it is precisely these qualities 
that have contributed most to the great measure of success 
he has won at home as well as abroad. The advice which 
Bailie Nicol Jarvie received from his father, the Deacon, con- 
centrates all that can be said of this characteristic into an 
aphorism — '' Never put out your arm further than you can 
draw it back." Some people have said that a Scot can see 
further through a two-inch door or a stone wall than anyone 
else, and certainly his natural propensity for '' putting this 
an' that thegither." makes him solve a knotty problem, and 
see through a tangled argument, more quickly and clearly 
than most of his neighbors. A Scottish merchant will cal- 
culate the chances of a venture much more thoroughly than 
his English or German rival, and though, at times, he may 
lose a chance by making haste slowly, he generally wins in 
the long run. In China or India, English and French set- 
tlers often at first gather gear quickly and become actually 
rich, while the Scot who started with them is still apparently 
only looking out for his chances, and frittering away his 
time in studying his surroundings. But once he begins to 
gather he soon makes up to his friends and then creeps 



I04 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

steadily past them, for he has the happy faculty of knowing 
how to keep a firm hold of whatever comes in his way. In- 
deed, it has been maliciously said that the Scotsman keeps 
the Sabbath day and everything else he can lay his hands 
upon. 

The facility for seeing through a stone wall has made 
Scottish geologists the most prominent in the world in inter- 
preting the story of nature as imprinted in the rocks of 
their native land. It enabled Sir Roderick I. Murchison to 
expound the mysteries of the Silurian system as no other 
man before or since his time has attempted. It also enabled 
Hugh Miller to relate the story told on the old red sandstones 
of Cromarty and the North with the pen of a scientist and the 
grace of a poet. To this logical insight into the problems of 
science may be referred the fame which Scotsmen have won 
as discoverers. Watt and the steam-engine, Simpson and 
chloroform, Murdoch and illuminating gas, Young and 
paraffine oil, Bell and the reaping machine, are names and 
discoveries which are linked together by universal consent. 
To the possession of this quality may also be ascribed the 
fame which Scotsmen have acquired as practical mathema- 
ticians. The most brilliant name in this class of thinkers is 
that of Napier of Merchiston whose logarithms, discovered or 
invented in the early part of the 17th century was in its own 
sphere, as important a revelation as Newton's discovery of 
the law of gravitation. 

The hard, practical nature of the logic which seems to be 
an inherent quality among Scotsmen in every walk of life 
finds plenty of illustrations in the domestic annals of the 
people. A gentleman, Mr. Douglas of Cavers, Roxburgh- 
shire, was one day walking in the old churchyard near his 
estate and stopped to look at a stone cutter who was carving 
an angel on a tombstone. The workman, following the 
fashion of the time, had adorned the head of the angel with 
a grand flowing wig. ^'In the name of wonder," said Mr. 
Douglas, " who ever saw an angel with a wig ? '' *' And in 
the name of wonder," rej^lied the workman, '^who ever saw 
an angel without one? " On a small farm near Edinburgh 
a donkey was kept for doing all sorts of odd jobs, under the 
supervision, generally, of the farmer's son. One evening 
when the lad w^as putting up the beast he blundered in some 
way, and his father, who was standing by, said angrily ; 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. IO5 

''Man, Jock, you're just an ass yoursel'." " Aweel," replied 
Jock quietly, '' ye're my father." Here is an instance of the 
natural logic of the Scot, under circumstances when logic is 
not apt to come into play. A party of Edinburgh volunteers 
had been to Linlithgow accompanied by a band. The latter 
had been liberally served with refreshments during the day, 
and on the homeward journey were completely demoralized, 
some of them forgetting where their instruments were. At 
the Haymarket station the ticket collector entered among 
them with the usual demand for " tickets." " Make haste 
there," he said to one burly chap who was fumbling aimlessly 
in his pockets. Growing tired of the search he threw him- 
self back in his seat saying : "I canna fin' the ticket, I've 
lost it." " Lost it ! nonsense" replied the collector. *' Ye 
couldna lose the ticket." '' Could I no'," answered the other 
triumphantly, "man, I've lost the big drum." Many hum- 
orous stories have been told about the Rev. William Ander- 
son, minister of John Street U P. Church, Glasgow, and 
here is one which illustrates the topic in hand. One day 
Mrs. Anderson, having returned from a walk, missed a pair of 
new boots which had been sent home that morning for her 
husband, and which she had noticed on the lobby table 
when she went out. Getting no satisfaction from the ser- 
vant she went into the study and asked the minister if he had 
seen anything of the boots. '' Weel, yes," he replied in his 
own peculiar way, " there was an' auld beggar man here 
asking for help, an' as he was ill-shod I gied him the boots." 
'* But bless me, " said the wife, " you might have given him a 
pair of old ones." *' It wasna auld anes he needit," was the 
doctor's answer, " he had auld anes already." A teacher in 
a Sabbath school was expatiating to his class on the miracle 
of Jonah in the whale's belly. After exciting the astonish- 
ment of the children by the narrative he said : *' Can any 
of you imagine a miracle more wonderful than that ? " 
•' Yes, sir " said a little fellow shaking his hand vigorously. 
"What ? " asked the teacher. '' A whale in Jonah's belly," 
was the answer. 

The inquisitive character of the Scot, so often the topic of 
pleasant or sneering remark,is really a part of this logical qual- 
ity. He desires to have the premises right before arriving at a 
conclusion. I once asked a countryman whom I met when 
traveling near Leuchars, in Fifeshire, how far it was to St. 



I06 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Andrews. *' Are ye gaun to St. An'rews?" he queried. "I 
am." *' Ye'll hae traivelled a bit the day ? " was his next 
question, and I confessed I had. " Did ye come frae Dun- 
dee ? " "No, I started from Broughty Ferry," I replied. 
So on he went asking a dozen other questions and then hav- 
ing satisfied his curiosity he satisfied mine by telling me the 
distance about which I had inquired. There was no intention 
of rudeness on his part, and if I had turned the tables upon 
him and " speered " a few things about himself he would not 
have taken it amiss. Only it is likely that for every question 
I put he would have asked me a dozen. 

But the logical character of the Scot shows itself more clearly 
in his sturdy common sense than in anything else. This qual- 
ity has been carried into everything the Scotsman thinks or 
does and the world is the better for it. He has carried it even 
into the highest realm of thought,and his philosophy, known as 
the *' Common Sense School " has proved to be one of the most 
straight forward and practical which has ever been enunciated. 
It has produced such masters as Thomas Brown, Dugald 
Stewart, Thomas Reid and Sir William Hamilton, names 
which rank among the very foremost in the history of modern 
ethics. These men investigated philosophy solely for the 
truth which lay concealed within it, and when they grasped 
that truth they boldly proclaimed it to all who cared to listen. 
Other modern philosophers, and many ancient ones too, went 
to work on a different basis. They evolved some theory 
from the recesses of their brains and then rushed wildly 
through the realms of thought to prove its truth, or the 
likelihood of its truth, for they were alway content with the 
shadow when they could not grasp the substance. The com- 
mon sense school of Scottish metaphysics, coming before the 
world at a time when the sophisms and sentimentalisms of 
Germany fell thick and fast, cleared the air, dissipated the 
mists and fogs and made philosophy be regarded once more 
as a practical as well as a speculative science. Even in the 
present day the warfare between the two most recent systems — 
the purely practical and the purely speculative — is kept in 
check by the clear, logical minds of Scottish philosophers 
like Dr. James McCosh, or laughed away by the pleasant 
humors of real original thinkers like John Stuart Blackie. 

Still the common sense, inquisitiveness and logic in the 
Scot would amount to very little were it not for the native 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. I07 

thoughtfulness which is the basis of them all. Many have 
heard the story of the Highlandman who praised his parrot, 
because, though it did not speak much, it thought a good deal. 
But the taciturn thoughtfulness of the Scot arises from a 
desire to temper his conversation with judgment. The ** airy 
nothings " of the Frenchman are incomprehensible to him. 
In what are regarded as the lighter forms of literature — vers 
de societie, drawing-room dramas, fashionable romances, 
"days in a garden" or "tours in my chamber" — he is 
behind the age. To purely speculative poetry, the country 
has contributed no Master and such transcendental writers as 
Shelley have never acquired any hold among the people. A 
Scottish tragedy worthy of ranking among the masterpieces 
of compositions of that class has not yet been written, and 
a purely Scotch comedy by a Scottish author is an impossi- 
bility. Even fiction must contain a pretty large modicum of 
historical fact or information to make it popular and to enable 
it to maintain that popularity. The main reason that a Scot 
gives for reading and relishing the Waverley novels, for 
instance, is that "a great deal o' them is true." Pure fic- 
tion, for its own sake, has never charmed the people, or at 
best has enjoyed a passing degree of popularity. But give 
a Scotsman a sermon, a history, a bit of philosophy, a piece 
of criticism or a song of the heart, something relating to the 
things of this world or the next, and he is at home. On such 
themes he can point to writings of his countrymen which are 
not inferior to any in the literature of other lands. And in 
the perusal of such subjects he takes a real pleasure, for 
they allow him to think, and suggest in turn many trains of 
thought. The intelligent Scot likes to weigh, and ponder, 
and wrestle with what he reads, and a book which does not 
afford him scope in these respects is of small moment. To 
bear such a strain and still be regarded as a favorite, is test- 
imony enough to prove that a book which is popular in Scot- 
land must indeed be above the average. 



SOME MORE CHARACTERISTICS. 

RELIGIOUS, POETICAL, BRAVE, HONEST, CONSERVATIVE. 

IT used to be a standing joke in the West of Scotland to 
aver that every native of Paisley was born a poet. Judg- 
ing by the number of rhymsters and poets which that good 
old town has given to the world, there was, no doubt, a 
modicum of truth in the remark, and it was so agreeable to 
the ears of the Paisley folks that they liked it, and believed 
it, and almost swear by it to the present day. I have often 
thought, however, that the poetic wealth of Paisley has 
loomed up larger than that of many other Scottish towns, 
from the fact that the '< bodies" had a clearer idea of the 
value of " guid black prent " than their neighbors and used it 
freely, while the poets of other places were' content to cir- 
culate their literary efforts in manuscript, or to repeat them 
at the social gathering or around the " festive board." Dun- 
dee, for instance, has been the home of a large array of 
singers, good, bad and indifferent, from the time the Wedder- 
burns wrote their "Guid and Godly Ballates," imtil George 
Gilfillan forever laid down the harp. Aberdeen has fur- 
nished quite a regiment of rhymsters, so has Forfar, so has 
Leith, so has Edinburgh and' Glasgow and many others, 
while Ayr can boast of one poet among her contingent who is 
worth, in himself, a whole legion. 

Scotland has well been called the '' land of song." Every 
battle-field, river, loch, glen, town or village, has had its 
story or its praises chanted in rhyme, and even the smallest 
clachan has, or has had, its own particular poet who has 
made it the theme of some of his verses. Sometimes a 
poet, not content with a single town will weave into a song 
an entire country side. Thus " Burne, the violer," in his 
quaint, seventeenth century ballad, sings of " Leader Haughs 
and Yarrow " and all the places within a day's journey — 



SCOTTISH CHARACl ERISTICS. IO9 

" Park, Wanton-wa's, and wooden-cleuch, 

The East and Wester Mainsts, 
The wood of Lauder's fair eneuch, 

The corns are good in the Blainslies, 
There aits are fine and sold by kind, 

That if ye search all thorough 
Mearns, Buchan, Marr, nane better are 

Than Leader Haughs and Yarrow. 

****** 

" Sing Erslington and Cowden knowes, 
Where Homes had ancc commanding ; 
And D ygrange with the milk white ewes, 

Twixt Tweed and Leader standing: 
The bird that flees through Reedpath trees, 

And Gledswood banks ilk morrow, 
May chant and sing sweet Leader Haughs 
And bonny howms o' Yarrow." 

''This song," wrote Robert Chambers, '*is little better 
than a string of names of places, yet there is something so 
pleasing in it, especially to a * south-country man,' that it 
has long maintained its place in our collections." The im- 
aginative, thoughtful temperament of the people finds its 
highest utterance in poetry, and this, when it does not make 
its presence seen in the shape of rhyme, is felt in the grace- 
ful ease with which the Doric falls into rhythm. Some of 
the words in common use in Scotland are in themselves- ex- 
pressive of the highest poetic sentiment and such a phrase 
as "auld lang syne" conveys to the listener who is ac- 
quainted with its full and untranslatable meaning a com- 
plete and perfect poem. Poetry is not a thing of lines and 
rhymes, quaint conceits, happy images and more or less ex- 
travagant allusions, as it is generally supposed to be. It is a 
nameless, undefinable quality that touches the heart and rouses 
in the breast of the listener or reader a deep sense of human 
sympathy or love. It is heard as truly in the voice of the 
milkmaid, singing at her toil as in the swelling notes of a 
grand cathedral organ. It sounds in the human ear as 
sweetly when murmured in the- cottage, as when it re-echoes 
through the palace, and it is equally at home in both, for it 
recognizes no merely human, artificial distinctions. It needs 
the aid of neither education nor culture to make itself ap- 
preciated, for it is not of mortal origin, but part of the divine 
birthright and the common property of all who desire to 
possess it. 

Among the singers of Scotland every class has been, and, 
even yet, is represented. James I., James V., and James 
VI.,. rank among royal poets, and even Mary, "Queen of 
Scots," as she is affectionately called, is said to have found 



no SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

time amid her earlier frivolities and later sorrows to commit 
her thoughts to verse. Noblemen, like the great Marquis 
of Montrose, the Earl of Glencairn, the Earl of Stirling, and 
in our day, like the Marquis of Lome, and the Earl of 
Southesk; country gentlemen like Drummond of Hawthorn- 
den and Mure of Rowallan ; ministers of the Gospel like John 
Home, whose tragedy of ''Douglas" is still seen on the 
stage, and John Skinner, whose " Tullochgorum " is one of 
the classics of Scottish song ; lawyers like Sir Walter Scott, 
and Lord Neaves ; merchants like Allan Ramsay, and Wil- 
liam Cross ; farmers like Robert Burns and Adam Skirving, 
and peasants like James Hogg and David Siller, have all in 
turn attuned the lyre and drew from it the sweetest sounds. 
Even in the unpoetical atmosphere of the cities, from loom, 
bench and forge, amidst all the grim realities which face those 
who have to toil day after day for a pittance, the burden of 
their lives, and of other lives, has been softened and mel- 
lowed by the songs they have woven in their brains while their 
hands were busy with material things. 

The grand feature of the Scottish muse is that it is intensely 
practical. It sings of real hills and valleys, and lakes and 
rivers, instead of the hills of Parnassus or of classic story, 
and of real personages — men and women — instead of mytho- 
logical gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines. It has, of 
course, reflected the fashions of the years through which it 
has passed and at times has sung of Jove, and Phyllis, but 
these were speedily forgotten, while the people continued to 
sing the praises of the Jockies and Jennies whose Counterparts 
lived and moved around them. Take up a volume of Ram- 
say's "Tea-Table Miscellany," which is a faithful collection 
of such songs as were favorites at the time it appeared (1724) 
or were likely to become favorites because they conformed to 
the tastes of their day, and we will find that none of them 
which had such exalted personages as Strephon, Psyche, Chloe^ 
Damon or Amaryllis for their heroes or heroines survive, 
while those which tell us of Roger, Patie, Peggy, and the like, 
continue to be sung or at least are held in sweet remembrance. 
The same condition of things presents itself when we look at 
the more pretentious productions of the poets. The " Quair " 
of King James I. is never read now except by antiquaries or 
literary students ; neither are Gavin Douglas's " Palice of 
Honour" or Bellenden's " Proheme of the Cosmography" ; 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. I I I 

but Blind Harry's Wallace long lingered in the popular favor 
and Sir David Lindsay, Henryson and Dunbar were remem- 
bered, and their works more or less known, until the middle 
of the last century. Then the progress of the printing press 
introduced very widely a new order of writers and the old 
idols of the people were reverently laid away. Since then, 
Scottish poetry has taken its cue from Robert Burns, who 
above all others, excelled in a knowledge of the Scottish 
heart, and delineated the thoughts, aspirations, joys and sor- 
rows of the people as no man before or since has done, and 
from Sir Walter Scott whose charm as a depictor of Scottish 
scenery and a chronicler of Scottish historical and legendary 
lore has never been equalled. The one was the poet of the 
people and the future, the other of the country and the past. 
Conjointly they have reigned, and are likely to continue ever 
to reign as the '' high priests of Scottish song." 

In most instances, poetical composition is indulged in as a 
pastime, in Scotland. Many of the bards, especially those 
of the humbler classes, tell us that their verses were com- 
posed while engaged in their respective vocations, and writ- 
ten out in the evening's leisure as a -relaxation after the toiling 
and moiling of the day. The heart has to give utterance to 
its thoughts, and the utterance seems naturally and without 
apparent effort to evolve into a song. We cannot conceive 
of Burns sitting down deliberately to write a poem, beating 
his brains for a subject, tearing his hair, clenching his fists, 
and struggling with all his might to find and fit rhymes. He 
seemed almost to pour out his imaginings without premedi- 
tation, or he had mentally so mastered each theme that, when 
he sat down to write, the words dropped from his pen without 
effort. 'A study of his manuscripts will amply confirm this 
for they bear comparatively few of those minor changes which 
indicate a struggle, and if we look closely at the structure of 
his verse we will find that he did not wrestle very much with 
his rhymes. When one did not come very handy he ignored 
it altogether and used whatever word best expressed his 
meaning, and yet in such cases we do not notice the defective 
or omitted rhyme, so great was the volume of song within 
him, so exquisite was his sense of rhythm. In looking over 
the manuscripts of some of Sir Walter Scott's poetry, too, we 
cannot help being struck by the apparent ease with which he 
wrote ; whole passages of some of his finest works being be- 



112 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

fore the world exactly as they first came from his pen, without 
blot or erasure. 

In every age or era of the nation's history, we can find 
many evidences that the bulk of Scottish poetry represents 
the pastime of the poets. Aytoun's '' Massacre of ta 
Phairson " was written without any serious purpose. Ram- 
say's *' Gentle Shepherd" was not conceived with any high 
notion of producing a Scottish drama which would be typi 
cal in the national literature. Honest Allan wrote simply to 
please himself and to while a few of the superfluous pennies 
from the pockets of the burgesses of Auld Reekie. To use 
his own words he wrote simply — 

" To bring in, frae Lord and Lady, 
Meiklc fame and part of ready." 

Lady Ann Lindsay, Sir Alexander Boswell, the Sempills and 
most of the aristocratic poets, as well as nearly all of the 
more democratic ones, wTote mainly for the gratification 
which they themselves received. Lady Nairue doubtless 
imagined that she had a mission, that of reforming and puri- 
fying the songs of the people, but of all her purifying little 
is now left. The people ignored her preaching, but loved 
her singing, and her songs, adapted in their turn to the pop- 
ular taste by many nameless editors, will ever entitle her to 
a place in the annals of Scottish poetry. Of course all the 
Scottish bards aspire for fame, for that is a natural desire 
implanted in the breasts of all men, and some of them even 
dream of immortality, for that is also a natural instinct. 
But though both fame and immortality fade before them 
'Mike snaw-wreaths in thaw," they never forget their song, 
and keep up their cheerful lilt and tuneful measure, until 
they have parted company with time forever. 

Yet, now and again, there are exceptions to this condition 
of pleasant relaxation, and the poetry within makes life an 
awful tragedy to the singer. This is especially evident when 
a poet allows the desire for fame or immortality, or even 
for contemporary poetic recognition to become a craze, to 
be so prominent in his thoughts as to overshadow every- 
thing else. This was really what sent Michael Bruce to an 
untimely grave. To this also was due the suicide of Tanna- 
hill, next to Burns, the sweetest of Scotland's lyric bards. 
Whoever reads the life of that unfortunate genius will dis- 
cover how this mad desire grew upon him so that it clouded 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. II 3 

his life, then darkened his intellect and found its quietus 
after the fatal plunge into the mill-pool at Ferguslie. To 
these men, and to others endowed like them, poetry was a 
terrible reality, a burning, all-devouring passion, a fateful 
curse. 

But as I have said, the Scottish muse, on the whole, is 
cheerful rather than otherwise. In the past she was a hearty, 
honest, laughing country lass, ready to weep with those who 
weep, but quick to dry her tears and survey nature again 
with sparkling eyes. Sometimes, her laugh was rather loud, 
and her dress often a little — just a little— ^high-kilted. But 
she has outgrown the follies of her youth, and become a 
staid yet happy matron, singing cheerfully of her lot and her 
surroundings, and now and again stopping her lightsome 
song to throw her thoughts into the future, and to speculate 
on the world above her, where she may yet be permitted to 
sing another and a sweeter strain. 

The courage of the inhabitants of Caledonia has been 
commended from the earliest times. Even in the dim ages 
of history we often find that their heroic, chivalrous quali- 
ties gave them a measure of fame among the semi-civilized 
and wild tribes of the European continent. Indeed but for 
this characteristic the people would never have been heard 
of in those primitive times, for it was only through deeds of 
heroism and daring that fame was won. Brute force then 
ruled the known world, and the most honored man was he 
who could best swing a club, or was most ruthless in his 
contempt for human life, and who laughed loudest at the 
very thought of fear or danger. From the very beginniiig 
of their authentic history, we find the Scots carrying on a 
struggle for independence. The Romans tried hard to reduce 
the country to the grade of a province, but failed, and were 
glad to build a wall between the Caledonians and the dwell- 
ers in the conquered fields in the central part of the island. 
The English also attempted the subjugation of the country, 
but without success, for the stubborn will of the people could 
neither be bent or broken by force of arms or the wiles of 
state-craft. Only once could Scotland be said to have lain, 
bruised and bleeding, at the feet of a conqueror, and that 
was due to the genius of Oliver Cromwell and the decisive- 
ness of his victory at Dunbar in 1650. It must be remem- 
bered, however, that at that time, the country was far from 



114 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

being united. Political and religious feelings and differ- 
ences ran high, and the great body of the people had hardly 
made up their m-inds how to act in the condition of things 
which the course of events had brought to pass. To use an 
auld proverb, '^They were between the deil an' the deep 
sea." They wanted King Charles, and yet they did not 
want him. They wanted religious toleration according to 
the Presbyterian ideal. Charles promised it, Cromwell pro- 
claimed it. They desired '*the auld Stuarts back again," 
but they were not sure how the particular specimen of the 
auld Stuarts they had to deal with would behave when he 
got back. They hesitated, doubted, hoped, surmised, ar- 
gued and prayed. Cromwell with masterly activity took 
advantage of their hesitation and before they knew it had 
them bound hand and foot under his rule. It was a grim 
lesson, but the people deserved it. The same indecision was 
again seen when Prince Charlie made his victorious march 
from Moidart to Prestonpans in 1745. But for the divided 
state of public sentiment such a triumphal procession would 
not have lasted over a day, and the Jacobite court at Holy- 
rood would never have had an existence. The once favor- 
ite ballad which follows — written probably in the early part 
of the eighteenth century — shows how this division of senti- 
ment among the people was well understood and appreciated: 

" The auld Ptuarts' back again. 

The auld Stuarts' back again ; 
Let howlet Whigs do what they can, 

The Stuarts will be back again. 
Wha cares for a' their creeshy duds 

An' a' Kilmarnock's sowen suds ? 
We'll whack their hides an' fyle their fuds, 

An' bring the Stuarts back again. 

" There's Ayr an' Irvine, wi' the rest, 

An' a' the cronies i' the West, 
Lord ! sic a scaw'd and scabbit nest 

How they'll set up their crack again. 
But wad they come, or dare they come 

Afore the bagpipe an' the drum, 
We'll either gar them a' sing dumb. 

Or ' auld Stuarts' back again.' " 

But Kilmarnock, Ayr, Irvine and the '' cronies of the 
West" held the balance of power at that critical period, and 
as they did not sing ''the auld Stuarts back again " they 
prevented the young Chevalier from obtaining any real hold 
on the country and led directly to his discomfiture. The 
'45, much as it has been sung and prai^ied, was little better 
than a flash in the pan, a glint of bright light followed by 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. II5 

a cloud of smoke. It was the divisions among the people 
that made it possible, and again the people paid dearly for 
their indecision when the brutalities of Cumberland won for 
him the epithet of " Butcher," and the martial and penal 
laws which followed Culloden interfered with not only civil 
but religious freedom. 

Nearly all the battle-fields of Europe have been dyed with 
the l)lood of Scotsmen, serving either as troopers of fortune 
or as the appointed soldiers of their own land. Since the 
union of the kingdoms in 1703, they have borne more than 
their share in fighting the battles of Britain. They have ever 
been in the front rank, facing danger without hesitation, 
enduring fatigue without a murmur, and their loyalty and 
fidelity are always relied on implicitly by their officers. "What- 
ever man dare they can do " has often been said of the 
Highland Brigade in foreign lands, and the words of Lord 
Wolseley in writing of the Black Watch may be quoted as 
really applicable to them all — '' Scotland and the Empire 
generally could not do too much for a corps that has done 
so much to build up and preserve the unity of the great 
Empire ruled over by the Queen. When in action with the 
Royal Highlanders one need tak'e no trouble about the 
part of the field where they are engaged, for I have always 
then realized that what men could do they would accomplish. 
Officers and men work together with an entire and mutual 
confidence in one another that insures success. Whenever 
I go on active service I always try to have this splendid regi- 
ment with me, because I can rely upon it at all times and 
under all circumstances. Whenever I see the red heckle of 
the Black Watch I feel that I have there not only good 
friends, but also staunch comrades who will stand by one to 
the last." The colors of the Black Watch are inscribed 
with a list of battles which really summarize the military 
glory of Britain since that gallant corps was first organized 
on a field near Aberfeldy. *' Mangalore," *' Seringapatam," 
''Egypt," ''Corunna," '' Fuentes d'Onor," ''Pyrenees," 
" Nivelle," '' Nive," ''Orthes," " Toulouse," " Peninsula," 
"Waterloo," " South Africa, 1846-47," '' South Africa, 1851- 
2-3," "Alma," "Sevastopol," '' Lucknow," " Ashantee," 
"Egypt, 1882," ''Tel-el-Kebir." The Scots Greys, with 
their grand motto, '' Second to None," carry us still further 
back into the story of Britain's wars, with such names on their 



Il6 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

colors as '' Blenheim," '' Ramillies," '* Oudenarde," '' Mal- 
plaqaet" and '' Dettingen.'' In the number of such honors 
inscribed on their colors the Highland regiments will far 
excell any similar number of regiments in the British army. 

What a list of heroes has Scotland contributed to the 
common stock of Britain since the kingdoms were united ! 
The names of Sir John Moore, Ralph Abercrombie, 
Admiral Duncan, Dundas of Fingask, Sir John Hope, Sir 
George Murray, Sir James Simpson, Colin Campbell and 
Rose of Strathnairn rise at once to memory, and in the back- 
ground is seen a veritable army of illustrious men, each one 
occupying an honored page in the annals of British military 
exploit and victory. During the Egyptian war of 1882 the 
Highland Brigade, under the command of Sir Archibald Ali- 
son (son of the celebrated author of the "History of Europe,") 
showed that officers and men were equally distinguished by 
the martial spirit and invincible bravery which had carried 
their ancestors in triumph over many a hard-fought field. 
When we read the modern record of the soldiers of Scotland 
we can realize that the ancient spirit is not dead, and that 
Scotland to-day is as much a nation of warriors as it was at 
any epoch in the "good old time." 

But while the men have thus maintained the national 
character for bravery, the gentle sex has not been far behind 
when danger or circumstances demanded. The courage of 
the ladies of the struggling court of Robert Bruce yet thrills 
the heart, and who can read of the heroism of Black Agnes of 
Dunbar without wonder and admiration ? Even Mary, Queen 
of Scots, with all her frailties, had a stout heart that could 
rise equal to any occasion which presented itself. Her 
behavior in the last dread moments of her life, when stand- 
ing on the scaffold with the headsman, and around her 
scowled the grim countenances of the courtiers of her cousin 
Elizabeth, was marked by a calmness and a courage which 
the bravest could not have shown more distinctly, and 
which touched the hearts of not a few of the miserable spec- 
tators. Then the '' ladies of the Covenant," as they have 
been called, furnish a whole gallery of types of female hero- 
ism. Marion Harvey, Margaret McLauchlan, Margaret 
Wilson, Isabel Alison and hundreds of others suffered 
martyrdom with as much true nobility, steadfastness and 
courage as can be found recorded anywhere; and such names 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. 



117 



as those of Lady Kenmure, Lady Grizel Bailie, Lady Graden, 
Lady Cavers, Lady Mary Johnston, Lady Culross and Lady 
Catherine Hamilton are still fondly recalled as those of 
loyal and true women who suffered much for conscience' 
sake, and who were ready to prove their devotion to their 
religion with their lives. 

In connection with the Jacobite rebellions the ladies of 
Scotland also showed their heroism. The part they played 
has been dwarfed, or hidden rather, by the romantic episodes 
in which Flora Macdonald — the most popular of all the 
heroines of Scotland — was the leading character. But still 
the stories of Lady Nithsdale, Lady Keith and many others 
reflect honor on the courage and devotedness of the fair sex. 
The ladies were the warmest supporters whom Prince Charles 
had during his campaign in 1745-46, and their enthusiasm 
doubtless contributed in a great measure to the short season 
of success he enjoyed. In the words of a popular song, the 
women were *' a' gane wud," and often loudly sung the praises 
of the *' Young Chevalier" even when their male relatives, 
with cooler judgment and wiser heads, were disposed to leave 
him and his cause severely alone. During the Indian 
mutiny the courage of the Scottish ladies whose fortunes 
were cast in the midst of the carnage and danger of that 
awful time has often been praised. The story of Jessie 
Brown at Lucknow has thrilled the civilized world, and 
although the episode on which her fame rests has been con- 
tradicted in many of its details, yet enough remains to show 
that Jessie did exist, was present in the Residency at Lucknow 
during its terrible siege, and went through the awful ordeal 
with a heart as brave at least as that of any of its male 
defenders, whether of high or low degree. In less stirring 
lives, those of the manse, the mission station or the cottage, 
we could find countless instances worth recording of the 
bravery and courage of Scottish women. But tales of hero- 
ism in ordinary life are so common that many must 
readily occur to any one who has mingled among the people, 
and it seems needless to quote any here. 

No one can be truly described as brave who is not a lover 
of fair play, and this is also eminently a characteristic of the 
Scot. Exact justice between man and man is a grand rule, 
and the more it is practised in every-day life the more inde- 
pendent and valuable does that life become. **Giff Gaff 



Il8 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

mak's guid frien's " is one of the most popular proverbs in 
Scotland, and wherever it is acted upon its advantages are 
obvious. In the world's anthem/* Auld Lang Syne," there 
occur two lines which emphasize the national love for fair 
play— 

" And surely you'll be your pint-stoup, 
And surely I'll be mine " 

English critics have often attempted to interpret these lines, 
but failed to grasp their meaning. As a general rule they 
have tried to ridicule them, and hint pretty plainly that they 
illustrate the natural meanness of the Scot, because the one 
old friend would not give the other a pint-stoup until it was 
agreed that the compliment should be returned. Instead of 
this, however, it only shows the independence of the two. The 
one wanted to give the other a loving-cup and to receive the 
same mark of friendship in return. Such a notion as econ- 
omy never entered the heads of the cronies. They met, 
hailed each other as Scots do who have not forgathered for 
several years, and then proposed to celebrate their meeting 
by — as was very fashionable in Burns' day — *' weeting it 
both conjointly and severally," as a law paper might describe 
the circumstance. 

Speak to a Scot of fair play and you touch one of the 
corners of his heart. He believes in it, practises it. and 
when it is extended to him he generally returns it faithfully, 
honestly and sometimes perhaps with a little interest. At 
times, of course, self will " the wavering balance shake " 
just a little too much in one direction, but on the whole it 
may safely be said that fair play in public or private life is 
recognized by Scots of all classes as a jewel, and as the best 
and safest rule in life. 

Integrity, with which I classify steadfastness, religious 
sentiment and a hatred of shams, is a Scottish characteristic 
which, probably more than any other, has been most gener- 
ally recognized, especially in these modern days. There is a 
story told of an old Scot who assured his son that honesty 
was the best policy, and added sotto twee that he had ** tried 
baith." But I think there can be no doubt that this a fiction 
fastened upon the shoulders of the unoffending Sawney by 
some unscrupulous Englishman. '* A good conscience is 
the best divinity " says an old and much prized proverb and 
another inculcates that '' honesty may be dear bought but 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. II 9 

can ne'er be an ill pennyworth." To be leal and true is one 
of the standard maxims of Caledonia and the theme for cen- 
turies has been preached from her pulpits and sung by her 
poets. That the people, as a whole, are honest is every whera 
conceded. True, the Highland rievers made periodical 
descents upon the Lowlands and "lifted" good fat cattle 
and whatever else they could lay their hands upon. It is true, 
too, that the wild Borderers were guilty of the same offense 
in the fair land which lay to the south of them, and that the 
lairds and lords were always ready to steal as much of their 
neighbors' lands and goods as they dared to. But these 
things were all done in the good old times when 

"They could take who had the power, 
And they would keep who can." 

In those days might was the prevailing law instead of right 
— or a smart attorney as at present. 

It is the prevailing fashion to joke about the honesty of a 
Highlander, and the story is common about an individual 
named Sandy Macdonald, who was arrested for stealing a 
pair of tongs and who simply said in his plea that he had 
found them at the fireside. But what section of the country 
can show a single record of honesty, loyalty and trustfulness 
like that shown by the Highlanders of 1746 when they held 
the person of Prince Charlie sacred in their midst although 
a reward of ^30,000 was freely offered among them for his 
betrayal ? The story is unparalleled in the history of nations, 
and is the crowning glory in the annals of the North. It 
more than atones for all the sheep-stealing and rieving which 
have been made known to us, and proves that honor burned 
brightly in the breasts of even the poorest peasants in the 
"North Countrie." Then, if we want a recent instance, 
showing how the same sense of honor exists in the country 
at the present day, we have only to recall the failure of the City 
of Glasgow Bank. Sad as it was, that catastrophe was not 
without its redeeming point, for it proved the grit of the peo- 
ple. Immediately after the failure was announced, a meet- 
ing of the stockholders was held in Glasgow, and it was 
attended by men of almost every age, profession and trade, 
a truly representative gathering of modern Scots convened 
together under most unfortunate circumstances, and under 
an awful cloud of misfortune, brought about through no 
direct fault in any of themselves. In their deliberations, 



120 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

these men never lost sight of the determination to make 
L^ood the losses of the bank in which they were partners. 
There was no squirming, no dodging of the issue, but a fair, 
square facing of the bitter reality. And what was the out- 
look ? To most of them it was the loss of their all, to many 
it meant irretrievable ruin, to not a few it showed absolute 
want But they accepted their fate like men, and the coun- 
try came nobly to the assistance of the women and children 
and other helpless victims, and by liberal contributions raised 
a fund which tided the unfortunate ones over their immediate 
distress, and gave to all who needed it, at least a helping 
hand. The crash caused by the failure was a terrible one 
and for a day or two the commercial probity of Scotland 
was sneered at by other nations, but the country emerged 
from the disaster with flying colors. No one lost a penny 
by the failure who was not on the roll of the bank's books 
as holders of its stock and the kindly Christian charity of 
the whole nation never appeared so clear, so lovable, or so 
genuine as it did in its efforts to help these unfortunate 
shareholders to release themselves from the hard slough of 
poverty into which the sad event had so suddenly plunged 
them. 

Religion is the principal factor in this quality of integrity. 
A Scotsman is nothing if not religious. He is a born theo- 
logian and takes a huge delight in construing problems and 
mysteries which people of other nationalities would think 
about with awe, or speak about with bated breath. Even 
when the Scot tries to shake off the good old-fashioned faith 
of his fathers for the sake of embracing some modern 
"ism," or for the privilege of nursing some fashionable 
doubt, the old theology laid down to him in his school-boy 
days through the medium of the Shorter Catechism and the 
tawse, sticks to him like a burr. I have heard mechanics at 
their work discuss knotty questions in theology with a degree 
of intelligence, religious information and logical acuteness 
which would have done credit to advanced students for the 
ministry. The Braes of Gleniffer, Glasgow Green and other 
places where artisans were wont to resort, could they tell 
the story of the disputations which have been waged on their 
green-sward, would bear evidence that the arguments were 
as often theological as political. In France, Spain, Italy, 
and even in England, theology is pretty much left in the 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. 121 

hands of its special professors — the priests. Not so in Scot- 
land. Every man is an enquirer — nay, even a professor, and 
no country in the world has produced more laymen who have 
taken an active and brilliant share in the work of the church. 
The case of Hugh Miller is an instance in point. In the 
troublous times of the Disruption no professed theologian or 
clerical politician on either side combatted the auld kirk 
more intelligently than he. The most abstruse questions 
were as marrow to his busy, thinking, piercing brain, and 
the knottiest of problems became clear and snnple, as he 
detailed them in the columns of the Witness newspaper. He 
was the literary champion of the Disruption, gave the Free 
Church its very name, and did more to establish and endow 
it among the people of Scotland than any other individual 
connected with it. 

The majority of the Scottish ministers are drawn from the 
ranks of the people, and their connection with the people is 
always a close and nearly always a lovable one. The people 
do not regard their pastors as beings of a different order 
than themselves or as semi-sacred sort of personages. They 
accord all reverence to their office as ambassadors or minis 
ters of God; they respect them for devoting their lives to the 
study of the Holy Writ, that they may the better explain 
and teach its important truths. The minister, to the credit 
of his class be it said, generally appreciates the situation 
and adapts it to his own comfort and the success of the 
cause to which he has given his life. Being removed by his 
position from the cares and worriments of business, or the 
jealousies of social life, he mingles freely among all classes 
and encourages each to constrain themselves and follow 
carefully in the narrow path — a path which his own footsteps 
invariably tread in all weathers and under all fortunes. In 
the palace of the peer and the cottage of the crofter the min- 
ister is equally welcome and equally at home, and he is as 
ready to discuss theological matters with the village black- 
smith as with a co-presbyter. Such ministers as those of 
Scotland, going in and out among the people, on terms of 
equality and real friendship with them all, have had a won- 
derful effect in educating all classes up to their own high 
standard of morality, and in no other country under the sun 
do we find the people and the clergy working more zealously 
together to promote the national welfare. 



122 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Scotsmen are often taunted in religions circles with being 
the countrymen of so great an opponent of revealed religion 
as David Hume. A little examination, however, will show 
Hume's precise position in a better light than that in which 
it is generally held. The age in which he lived was one of 
change and doubt. The teachers of religion had not ad- 
vanced in the world of thought as had other educated men, 
and held fast to many theories which the critical spirit of the 
time had rejected and which have long since been abandoned. 
Hume was, of all things, an analyst, and his keen, calm, logi- 
cal mind probed things to their very bottom. He saw that 
much of what the clergy taught was erroneous, and ani- 
mated by that discovery he doubted or derided, or ignored 
all they did teach. He was simply a seeker after truth, but 
the roads of his time were dark, and in his gropings he 
landed in a rut of unbelief, probably as much to his own sor- 
row as to the dismay of anyone else. David Hume was no 
gaping infidel, no ribald blasphemer like others who, in the 
present day, move in high places and delight in parading 
their weaknesses before large audiences for the double 
purpose of gratifying their pride and filling their purses. 
Hume was a thinker, a man of liberal mind and honest pur- 
poses, and however much we may deplore his avowed unbe- 
lief in many tenets taught by the theologians of his time, we 
cannot help confessing that these same theologians and the 
uncertain spirit of the period had more to do with bringing 
it about than any desire he personally entertained for being 
antagonistic to the faith of his kindred and the best instincts 
of his own pure heart. 

In fact the whole history of religion in Scotlana is distin- 
guished by its inflexible, unyielding, unflmching honesty. 
That was eminently demonstrated in 1843 when over 300 
ministers, some of them old men almost bending over the 
grave, others just in their prime, and many only entering 
manhood, voluntarily relinquished their incomes, their 
homes, and imperilled their earthly prospects, for the sake of 
a principle, the truth of which was dearer to them than for- 
tune, or even life itself. The same honesty was also seen in 
the struggle for the Solemn League and Covenant, and in 
that earlier Disruption of 1662, when the clergy left their 
kirks rather than remain in them after "presentation from 
the patron and collation from the bishop" as an order of 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. I 23 

Parliament demanded. This honesty animated Wishart, 
Knox, Henderson, Melville, Guthrie, Renwick and other 
heroes and leaders of the Reformation, and it made the 
people defy even the Court of Rome itself, at a time when 
the most powerful nations in Europe trembled at its nod. 

It almost goes without saying that this honesty should be 
distinguished by an absolute hatred of shams of every form 
and degree. The Scotsman very often is blunt in his speech, 
so much so as to make him frequently appear almost rude. 
Thomas Carlyle, the greatest philosopher of our time, is pos- 
sibly better known to the masses as a devoted assailant of 
shams, religious, political, historical and social, than any- 
thing else. When he said that there were " eight millions of 
people in England — mostly fools," he uttered a sentiment 
which was as blunt and ill-natured as it was possible to be, 
but the honesty of the words were so apparent that they 
have been incorporated into literature. Carlyle's hatred of 
shams rehabilitated Oliver Cromwell and placed him before 
the readers of history in his true position as a hero. John 
Knox, in his interviews with Queen Mary, has been accused 
of rudeness, but who will now dare say so after the light 
which Carlyle has brought to bear on his heroic character ? 
Every word the Reformer spoke to his unhappy Queen was 
prompted by truth, and that truth his conscience impelled 
him to speak, and he did not care whom it hurt, or how skil- 
fully an adversary might attempt to improve it. Here are 
some of Carlyle's words in connection with this subject: 
<' The treatment which that young, beautiful and high chief 
personage in Scotland receives from the rigorous Knox, 
would to most modern men seem irreverent, cruel, almost 
barbarous. Here, more than elsewhere, Knox proves him- 
self — here, more than anywhere, bound to do it — the Hebrew 
prophet in complete perfection, refuses to soften any ex- 
pression, or to call anything by its milder name, or in short, 
for one moment to forget that the eternal God and His word 
are great, and that all else is little or is nothing, nay, if it 
set itself against the Most High and His word, is the one 
frightful thing that this world exhibits. He is never in the 
least ill-tempered with Her Majesty ; but she cannot move 
him from that fixed centre of all his thoughts and actions. 
Do the will of God and tremble at nothing ; do against the 
will of God, and know that, in the immensity and the eternity 



124 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

around you there is nothing but matter of terror. Nothing 
can move Knox here or elsewhere from that standing-ground; 
no consideration of the Queen's sceptres and armies and 
authorities of men is of any efficacy or dignity whatever in 
comparison, and becomes not beautiful but horrible when it 
sets itself against the Most High." 

There is an old saymg which tells us that '' Truth has a 
guid face but ragged claes," and another inculcates the pro- 
found axiom that "truth is the dochter o' time." The 
truth as spoken by John Knox, rough and rugged as it was, 
was still the truth and had it been heeded by the unfortu- 
nate Queen, it is likely that Fotheringay would have been 
robbed of its darkest tragedy and the memory of Queen 
Bess been relieved of one of its stains. The falsehoods 
which surrounded Mary have perished, but the influence of 
John Knox still lives and blesses not only Scotland, but the 
world. It was founded on the best of all foundations, and 
as time wears on, the truth which he professed seems clearer 
and brighter and softer, because we understand it better, 
and can judge of it by its fruits. The true always lives, it is 
always beautiful, and never fails to leave its impress, no 
matter how hard the soil is on which it alights, nor how 
weak the hand may be by which it is employed. 

It seems not a little singular to describe the Scot as a 
natural conservative when he is regarded politically as one 
of the most pronounced liberal factors in British affairs. 
The term ''canny," so often applied to Scotsmen, really 
means conservatism, but it is conservatism of the right sort, 
that which goes cautiously and steadily along the path of 
progress. A Scot hates to make a change of any kind. He 
leaves his early home, his native land, his accustomed haunts 
with regret. He even sees the changes which time works 
before his eyes with feelings akin to sadness. He sees the 
village through which he romped when a boy dishevelled and 
depopulated, the bonnie straths and hillsides turned into 
sheep-walks or deer grounds, the railway pierce its way 
through his most romantic glens, and his rivers turned into 
open sewers or mill-feeders, with a twinge of pain in his 
heart. Changes in Scotland are apt to sever too many 
kindly associations to yield much pleasure. The City Im- 
provenient Scheme which the late William Chambers intro- 
duced into Edinburgh was a measure whose value and benefi- 



SCOTTISH CHARACTERISTICS. I 25 

cence have never been called in question. But with all its 
evident benefits its requirements were regretted by many 
citizens of both high and low degree because it would sweep 
away hundreds of the old landmarks of the city — houses 
which were full of the romance of history and tradition. How 
many kindly memories lost their last tangible evidence when 
the old College of Glasgow was turned into a railway depot ? 
In many parts of Scotland there are melancholy reminders 
of the changes which are taking place. Some of these, such 
as Chambers' improvement scheme, may be excused or con- 
doned on the plea of '' progress " or *' the requirements of 
modern civilization " But there are others, like that of 

" Bonnie Strathnaver, Sutherland's pride," 

which wring the heart of every patriot who looks upon them 
and inspire the hope that a time is coming when laws will be 
so framed or altered that the " clearances " which have dis- 
graced the history of Scotland during the present century, 
will be perpetrated no more. 

In religion, as in politics, the Scots are very careful in 
making changes. They hesitate .long about throwing over- 
board any of the landmarks which their fathers fought for. 
Even points of Scriptural interpretation which the researches 
of the most orthodox Biblical students of modern times have 
proved to be erroneous, are cherished in Scotland long after 
they have been abandoned by the rest of the Christian world. 
Such theories as the six literal days of creation and the 
Mosaic chronology are still zealously believed in by a large 
body of the people and the " kist fu' o' whistles" is yet re- 
garded with abhorrence by many good people when spoken 
of in connection with a Presbyterian kirk. But once the 
Scot makes up his mind to accept the change, he goes about 
it in no half-hearted manner, and very often places himself 
in advance of his age. If he leaves his own land and 
makes up his mind to settle permanently in another, he 
quickly adapts himself to the manners, customs and require- 
ments of the country in which he finds his home. But be 
the change one of politics or law, or religion, the moment 
he accepts it he will strain every nerve in its behalf. He 
will set his goal before him and never take his eyes from it 
for an instant until it is reached. Possibly he may then 
discover he had made a mistake, but if he remains true to 



126 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

his early training he will seldom sit down helplessly and 
whine over it. When he does this and the world becomes 
too full of oppression and weariness for him, the sooner he 
is carried off to a brighter sphere the better. But this hap- 
pens very rarely, for the Scot is not much given to crying 
over spilt milk. He rather accepts the condition of things 
■ without grumbling or despairing, determines to make the 
best of them, and generally succeeds in the long run. 

There is something touching in the reverence the Scot 
entertains for the past, and his comparative thoughtlessness 
for the future, so far at least as this world is concerned. He 
always entertains the hope that things will remain in statu 
quo in his own time, not with the silly impertinence of 
''after me the deluge," which animated the French king, but 
from a loathness to see things altered, except a little for the 
better, from the way in which they had been handed down 
to him by his fathers. In no part of the world are relics of 
the past more carefully treasured than in Scotland, and thus, 
holding fast to that which has been, while carefully scan- 
ning the horizon of progress for that which is to be be5^ond 
all doubt an improvement, Scotland is giving an example 
to the world which is deserving both of imitation and ap- 
proval. 



SCOTTISH ANNIVERSARIES AND 
HOLIDAYS. 

THE Reformation in Scotland abolished all the festivals of 
the olden time, and left the Scottish people very des- 
titute of holidays or opportunities for general gatherings and 
merry-makings. Of course the fairs were not altogether aban- 
doned, but they were shorn of much of their former value 
in the eyes of many when they were no longer occasions for 
revelry, athletic sports, idle gossip and general hilarity. 
They were used mainly for bartering and preaching, and 
although at times the old spirit would break out among the 
younger folks, and, as so well described in connection with 
a later era in Scott's '' Old Morta,lity," a wappinschaw might 
be arranged at a popular gathering, still the dangerous levity 
was frowned down by the dour portion of the people, the 
local magnates and the "heads of families " as the Confes- 
sion of Faith called them. The same puritanical spirit which 
condemned many holiday festivities in England had spread 
into Scotland, but then it was more thoroughgoing, more 
spontaneously the result of genuine popular sentiment. In 
Scotland the Reformation was really a reformation. All 
things were changed and every form of religious observance 
was made as opposite from that of the Romish Church as it 
could possibly be. The severest simplicity took the place 
of the most ornate splendor. The priest, instead of being 
a potentate, became a minister, a servant, and as a clean 
sweep was made of the cloisters, images, altars, monks and 
nuns, so too were the old holidays, once dear to the people, 
completely ignored and almost obliterated — except as popu- 
lar landmarks. Even Christmas, the assigned natal day of 
the Founder of Christianity, was ruthlessly passed by without 
note or observance, and so was Easter. Even now, although 
those days are more in vogue than they were formerly, they 
can hardly be said to have regained their popularity in the 



128 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

land of the Kirk and the Covenant. Easter is a sort of 
frolicking time when dyed eggs and spring bonnets come 
into vogue, and Christmas is a period when fraternal and 
kindly greetings are exchanged between families, friends and 
acquaintances. Except among Episcopalians, and the class 
whom Professor Blackie delights to designate as ''West End 
swells," Christmas has no religious significance in any part 
of the country. 

But amid all the civil and religious changes which mark 
the history of Scotland, New Year's day has always remained 
a season of jubilation, of congratulation, and of pleasure 
seeking. Prior to the Reformation the day bore a religious 
significance, but on the consummation of that event it 
became one of purely secular reioicing. In the Low- 
lands first footing is the special feature of the day although 
it seems to a great extent to be dying out. Within the last 
half century great crowds of revellers used to meet at some 
central place in each town, such as the Tron Church at 
Edinburgh- or the Tron Church at Glasgow, and wait 
patiently until the "town " clock had finished striking twelve 
on the night of each 31st of December, Then a glad cheer 
would arise from the multitude, "a guid new year" would 
be passed from lip to lip as each one shook hands with his 
neighbor, and bottles of whiskey would be drawn from 
numberless pockets and " preed." Then the revellers would 
separate and start out on their first-footing expeditions. It 
was this same whiskey element in the rejoicing which led 
to its falling into desuetude. The old saying that " when 
drink's in, wit's out" holds true around New Year's day as 
well as at any time, and many catastrophes occurred, each 
celebration, which could be traced directly to this cause. In 
Edinburgh, for instance, about 1858, a young man was cross- 
ing the Mound to first-foot some friends when he was 
attacked by several Irishmen. In the scuffie which ensued 
one of the Irishmen was killed and the young man was 
arrested. He was tried for murder, but his character was an 
excellent one and his plea of self-defence was believed by 
the jury. He was acquitted, but had to leave the city, 
practically a ruined man. The trial created a deep sensa- 
tion in Scotland at the time, and its revelations proved a 
deathblow to the old-fashioned, kindly meant, but foolish 
practice of first-footing. From that time it ceased to be at 



ANNIVERSARIES AND HOLIDAYS. t^9 

all fashionable in Edinburgh, and, thanks to the steady prog- 
ress of temperance principles among the people, the more 
glaring of its objectionable features are rapidly disappearing. 
There is more di'upkenness in Scotland on New Year's day 
than on any other day in the year, but the extent of the evil 
is steadily being reduced. 

First-footing had a whole multitude of little superstitions 
which were peculiarly its own. Thus, a person who had a 
low instep was never desirable as a first-foot. A first-foot 
who entered a house empty-handed would be deemed very 
unlucky, and his advent would be the beginning of a year 
of poverty, hardship and misfortune. Should he enter un- 
shod, he would simply invite death to visit the household 
during the year, and so be to all intents and purposes a 
murderer. Even although the first-foot should make his 
appearance laden with all the good things of the season and 
his feet shod with the best shoes in the parish, he might 
still be an undesirable visitor on account of his being per- 
sonally obnoxious to the fates; an unlucky sort of ^ fellow in 
all respects. First-footing was, and is, a matter which should 
never be enteied upon without grave reflection, for the 
blame of anything in the way of disaster which may happen 
during the year is always- laid to the blame of the first-foot, 
and many a decent man has had his reputation thus blasted 
owing to circumstances arising over which he had no con- 
trol. On the other hand, I have known men who have 
acquired great local honor from being regarded as " guid 
^first fits," and to them the opening day of each year was 
truly a season of refreshing and rejoicing. 

In olden times, should a fire have gone out in a house- 
hold on New Year's day, it was considered a sign of impend- 
ing disaster. No one would lend a neighbor a shovelful of 
lighted coal on that day, and if a man entered a house and 
desired a light for his pipe, he would be very rudely and 
peremptorily refused. To give away light or fire rather, on 
January ist, was regarded as equivalent to giving away a 
life, and the person giving was deemed sure to be the victim. 
This was simply a survival of the old reverence for fire 
which existed among the people from the earliest times in 
their history. 

In the Highlands, first-footing was also quite a feature of 
the New Year's celebrations, and most of the superstitions 



130 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

current in the South belonged to the North. The late Rev. 
Alexander Macgregor, of Inverness, thus writes : " On 
New Year's eve, they [the Highlanders] surrounded each 
other's houses carr3ang dried cow-hides, and beating them 
with sticks, thrashing the walls with clubs, all the time cry- 
ing, shouting and repeating hymns. This is supposed to 
operate as a charm against fairies, demons and spirits of 
every order. They provide themselves with the flap, or 
hanging part of the hide on the cow's neck which they 
called 'caisean-uchd,* and which they singed in the fire 
and presented to the inmates of the family, one after 
another, to smell as a charm against all injuries from fairies 
and spirits. A specimen of the rhymes repeated, with loud 
chorus, is as follows : 

'Great good luck to the house, 
Good luck 10 the family, 
Good luck to every rafter of it 
And to every worldly thing in it. 

' Good luck to horses and cattle, 
Good luck to ihe sheep; 
Good luck to everything 
And good luck to all. your means. 

' Good luck to the guil wife, 
Good luck to the children, 
Good luck to every friend. 
Good luck and health to all.' " 

This is certainly about as complete a round of good wishes 
as one could well draw together. Nothing, in fact, is omitted. 
In the South as in the North, New Year's enjoyed a share 
in the good favor of the poets, although to a much smaller 
extent than one would suppose. The most popular New 
Year's song is that beginning 

" A guid New Year to ane an' a' 

An' raony may ye see, 
And owre a' the years to come 

G happy may ye be. 
An' may ye ne'ei hae cause to mourn 

To sigh or shed a tear ; 
To ane and a' baith gr^at an' sma'— 

A happy guid New Year." 

While, however, hoping the best for the future, many a sigh 
may be heard for the year that has gone, with all its sins of 
omission and commission. The following song written by 
John Donlap, who was Lord Provost of Glasgow, in 1796, 
faithfully interprets this feeling : 



ANNIVERSARIES AND HOLIDAYS. I31 

" Here's to the year that's awa' ! 
We'll drink it in strong and in sma' ; 
And here's to ilk bonnie young lassie we loved, 
While swift flew the year that's awa\ 

" Here's to the sodger that bled, 
And the sailor who bravely did fa'; 
Their fame is alive, though their spirits have fled 
On the wings of the year that's awa'. 

" Here's to the friends that we can trust 
When the storms of adversity blow ; 
May they live in our song and be nearest our hearts. 
Nor depart like the year that's awa'." 

To celebrate the anniversary of the birthday of Robert 
Burns, Scotia's darling poet, has become one of the duties 
of Scotsmen all over the world, and the day has been 
elevated into one of the most noteworthy in the national 
calendar. In the celebration of this day, the Scot is not 
selfish ; for while he keeps the limits of his nationality 
pretty closely drawn round his St. Andrew's and Caledonian 
societies, he invites the world to worship at the shrine of 
Burns and join with him in paying homage to the memory 
of that great poet. This invitation is very generally ac- 
cepted, and nowhere more so than in America, where of all 
"fremit" lands, Robert Burns .is best understood and 
most highly appreciated. 

In Scotland nearly every village or parish has its Burns 
club, and in the larger towns there are often three or four. 
All these hold more or less public meetings on the anniver- 
sary of the natal day. *' Furth of Scotland," wherever a 
dozen or two of its natives can be found located, they gen- 
erally have a club organized under the name of Burns, or at 
all events, they observe his " day " with rejoicings. In the 
United States and Canada, every January, there are some 
200 meetings in honor of the poet. These gatherings are of 
all descriptions, dinners, suppers, concerts, lectures and 
even balls, though by what stretch of imagination a ball 
can be considered as calculated to glorify the memory of a 
poet, I never could well understand. These festivals are 
attended by people of all classes from millionaires, bankers, 
merchants, traders, farmers, clerks, ministers, teachers, pro- 
fessors, to mechanics and hard-handed sons of toil in general. 
Some of the speeches are eloquent and equal to the occa- 
sion, others are homelier in their manner and worth, but 
equally sincere in their good intentions of helping along the 
fame of Burns in their part of ''this vale of tears." They 



132 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

are all equally exuberant, too, in their enthusiasm for the 
memory of che sweet singer who sung in undying tones the 
grand refrain of the brotherhood of man, and whose highest 
mission was to teach the inherent dignity and worth of 
honest toil. The people listen with admiration to the 
speeches, and cheer to the echo every allusion to the name 
of the poet or the slightest tribute to his genius. 

And that is all. The multitudinous quantity of speech- 
making, singing, enthusiasm, whiskey-drinknig, good fellow- 
ship and so forth which occupied so many hours, and which 
joined the world together on the night before, are all dissi- 
pated into nothingness with the rising of the sun, and the 
fame of Burns, the memory of Burns, the teaching of Burns 
have not been in reality helped in any degree by the en- 
thusiasm and vaporing which have been expended on the 
anniversary. The usual shrewdness of the Scot in this in- 
vestment is completely at fault. 

For it is a mistake, a grievous mistake, this system of use- 
less celebration, and tends, if Burns' life and teaching be 
worth anything at all, to render that worth useless. What 
is the good of men meeting once a year simply to tell each 
other that Burns was a great man ; that he wrote a number 
of poems which the world will not willingly let die ; that he 
elevated labor, and wrote stirring words in favor of freedom; 
and that his life was in itself one of the most interesting and 
solemn poems of which the world has ken? Men go on re- 
peating these things year after year with infinite zest, and 
with all the unanimity of parrots, thoroughly convinced that 
thereby they are doing a wonderful amount of good to the 
fame of Burns and the glory of their motherland. How 
much better would it be were these meetings made the 
sources from which bursaries could be raised to enable the 
sons of Scottish peasants to pass through the universities, 
or from which means would be derived to promote an in- 
crease of agricultural education among the class of small 
tenant farmers from which Burns sprung! Could they not 
spread a thorough understandmg of the political bearings of 
Burns' teachings among the people, bringing home to them 
a knowledge of the power they possess, of their inherent rights 
and of the wrongs which still harass and annoy them ? 
Could not a fund be raised to assuage the sorrows of old 
and impoverished authors, to assist their widows and fami- 



ANNIVERSARIES AND HOLIDAYS. 1 33 

lies, and to remove the reproach, as common and as truth- 
ful now as at any time in the world's history, that poverty 
and poetry always go together? Could not something be 
done, no matter how little, to hurry on that glorious time 
when the brotherhood of man will be a reality instead of a 
dream, and when Burns' song of "A man's a man for a' 
that " will be the accepted anthem of all the world ? Surely 
in these and a score of other ways which might be mentioned 
the hero-worship of Burns could be made something real, 
something practical, and in everyway worthy of his memory 
and of the heritage which he bequeathed to all posterity. 
Surely something of this sort would be more fitting, more 
manly, more characteristic of his countrymen, than spend- 
ing a night each year in listening to empty platitudes, thread- 
bare assertions, and neatly turned phrases, eating fashion- 
able dinners or democratic suppers, or in drinking large 
quantities of Scotch whiskey, the very draught which did so 
much to embitter the life of the poet and which hurried him 
midst poverty and sorrow to an untimely grave. 

Beltane, or, as it might be called, Mayday, has fallen into 
neglect. In some places the country lads and lassies, and 
even the town's lads and lassies, go out early on the morning 
and lave their hands and faces in May dew, but the custom 
is meaningless now and little better than a sort of idle di- 
version. Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Palm Sunday 
are now merely names in Scotland. The latter, indeed, 
would be forgotten altogether were it not that history records 
it as being the day when the " Douglas Larder " was formed. 
As will be remembered by those who have read the story of 
the struggle for independence in Scotland, Sir James Doug- 
las, the greatest of all his race, on Palm Sunday, 1306-7, 
recaptured by stratagem from the English his ancestral 
castle of Douglas. Sir James stripped the place of its arms 
and valuables. Then he threw into a huge heap all the 
provisions which were found in the stores, and staved all 
the casks containing wine and threw them on the pile. He 
next ordered all his prisoners to be killed and their bodies 
flung on the top of the strange cairn. He then set fire to the 
whole and consumed it as well as the castle itself. A savage 
performance truly, but it harmonized well with the spirit of 
the times, and the peasants of Douglasdale called it, in grim 
humor, the *^ Pouglas Larder,'' 



134 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

One would think that the 24th of June, the anniversary of 
the battle of Bannockburn, would be a gala-day among the 
Scotch; but, strange to say, it is hardly ever recognized by 
any special observance. Of course this is due in a great 
measure to the union which so happily exists between Eng- 
land and Scotland, and to the lack of any burning sentiment 
of jealousy between them; yet, even in spite of all this, it 
seems a slight on the memory of those who fought and fell 
on that day that the glory of their achievements should be 
ignored or forgotten. But for Bannockburn the union ot 
Scotland and England would have been effected on a very 
different basis from that on which it was afterwards settled. 
The English are not so very thin-skinned as to be likely to 
feel offended or put out at any celebration which might be 
made to mark the day when the independence of Scot- 
land was finally and emphatically won. Those of them^ who 
are located in the United States preserve their equanimity in 
the face of the Fourth of July demonstrations very easily, 
and the celebration of Evacuation Day in New York or the 
battle of Bunker Hill in Boston never causes them a pang. 
The 24th of June should be a marked day in Scotland, for 
the victory which it added to its history on that date in 13 14 
made everything possible which she has acquired since. 
Let one calmly sit down and imagine that the decision of 
Bannockburn had been reversed and that Bruce's army 
had been crushed and dispersed, Stirling relieved, and the 
whole country once more firmly under the heel of English con- 
querors. Then let him work out the problem of what the 
history of the country would have been as a mere province 
— a conquered and a despised province — of England. A 
study of this sort will make the importance of Bannockburn 
come home to a student more forcibly than any other way I 
can think of. Even England, in the light of history between 
then and now, has reason to be glad that her king and his 
soldiers were sent hurrying pell-mell across the Border in- 
stead of winning an empty, and to them barren, victory. 

Hallowe'en, the 31st of October, is so named as being the 
eve of the Feast of All Hallows, which is on the following day, 
November ist. Hallowe'en used to be very commonly ob- 
served all over Scotland, and merry parties were wont to con- 
vene under its happy auspices; but it is now falling into 
neglect. In fact the day would very likely have been long 



ANNIVERSARIES AND HOLIDAYS. 1 35 

ago as much a relic of the past as Beltane itself were it not for 
the fact that Burns has immortalized its observance, its cere- 
monies, its spells, its apple-doukins, its superstitions and its 
fun in one of the best of his descriptive poems. The pic- 
ture of Hallowe'en as he gives it, is perfect, and his lines have 
been the model or the source from which all descriptions of 
the festival have since been drawn. It is therefore needless 
to repeat the story here. Suffice it to say that Hallovye'en is 
a festival which is based upon superstition, and which has 
been the means of keeping these superstitions alive even to 
our own day. The old rhyme fitly describes its power : 

" This is the nicht o' Hallowe'en : 
A' the witches to be seen, 
Some o' them black, some o' them green, 
Some o' them like a turkey bean." 

The denizens of the spiritual world were on that night sup- 
posed to be in full possession of the country, and were 
permitted to work their most wonderful spells or play their 
most curious cantraps. The green-folk gathered on the hill- 
side or in the glen, or by the river-bank as it flowed through 
the meadow ; the kirkyards and ruins were peopled With 
ghosts; the kelpies laughed and shrieked to their hearts' con- 
tent, and the witches sailed hither and thither through the 
air in pursuit of their uncanny joys, or brought their foul 
machinations against ordinary folk to a culmination. The 
spiritual world then made itself known to the mortal, and 
the latter was often permitted to '^ keek " into the future 
and read the riddle of life. No wonder that among the 
simple-minded, earnest, thoughtful peasantry of the olden 
days Hallowe'en was a time which inspired awe as well as 
alfoided pleasure. In these later times the supernatural 
influence has been in a great measure dissipated, and with 
it has faded away the very reason for the observance of the 
evening. Its social opportunities and a sentimental regard 
for auld lang syne continue to give it a lingering lease of 
life, but, as I have observed, if Burns's poem had not been 
written that lease would have ended fully half a century ago. 
In the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia 
and New Zealand, many of the Scottish societies give a con- 
cert or some other entertainment on Hallowe'en. Sometimes 
at these festivals apples and tubs of water are provided for 
the children and the younger folks *'doukin," but, except in 



136 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

this respect, these merry-meetings might just as fittingly be 
held on any other night in the year. 

Saint Andrew's Day, the 30th of November in each year, 
is the great rallying day of Scotsmen abroad. Many of 
them rejoice on the anniversary of the birthday of Burns, 
and a number indulge in unusual merriment on Hallowe'en, 
but to the enthusiastic Scot the day of his Patron Saint means 
something far more important than even these, for St. 
Andrew is simply another name for Scotland. On that day 
he can indulge in exultant talk without let or hindrance ; he 
can extoll the beauties of his native land or magnify its vir- 
tues. He can enumerate its great men, not forgetting to 
give special prominence to those belonging to his '' ain 
pairish," and proclaim the charm of its poets. He can 
describe in glowing accents its wonderful history, and, draw- 
ing around him the mantle of prophecy, can predict for its 
future a degree of usefulness and splendor which will throw 
every other nation into the shade. To this no one will 
attempt to object. By universal consent the day has been 
given over to Scotsmen abroad as much as the 17th of 
March has been surrendered to the Irish to enable them to 
glorify the memory of a grand Scottish missionary of the 
olden time — St. Patrick. 

It has often been asked why St. Andrew should have been 
adopted as the Patron Saint of Scotland, and probably no 
satisfactory answer will ever be returned. The early legends 
regarding the founding of the Fife town bearing his name, of 
course, if true, would be sufficient. But who can say that 
they are anything but old-world babblings ? At the same 
time it must be confessed that there probably existed in the 
earlier ages some reason for this adoption. Very likely it 
may have been that some missionaries landed in Fife on this 
saint's day in the calendar, and named their place of abode - 
after him. Thus the name would be identified with all 
their movements, and as their cause spread so would the 
veneration for the saint to whose titulary care their place of 
refuge was dedicated. The stories about the relics of the 
saint, and so forth, are merely idle legends, invented in the 
Scottish monasteries during a time when the priesthood was 
in a state of moral d-ecadence. Such stories are very abun- 
dant concerning the remains of saints in general. 

But there can be no doubt that St. Andrew is a most fit- 



ANNIVERSARIES AND HOLIDAYS. 1 37 

ting patron for Scotland. There is one thing more than all 
else which is characteristic of the history of the Scottish 
people, and that is their intense patriotism. This was also 
characteristic of the saint. The first glimpse we get of him 
in the Gospels shows him in attendance on the preachings of 
John the Baptist in the wilderness. Judea had for a long 
time been groaning under a most cruel and exacting despot- 
ism, and the youth of the period indulged in dreams of the 
promised era when the country would once more be free. 
From what we can learn it would seem that the Baptist's 
early preaching was more national than religious. He 
taught that a prince was about to come who would restore 
the ancient liberties of the Jews, and-it was not until after he 
had baptized Christ that he appeared to understand the real 
nature of the change which had begun with that event. St. 
Andrew and his brother Peter had listened to these patriotic 
utterances of the Baptist for many days, and it was to this 
patriotism that they owed directly their introduction to the 
Messiah. Therefore, if we regard St. Andrew as a patriot, 
intense, enthusiastic and full of zeal, we can see how thor- 
oughly he is representative of the leading feature in Scottish 
nationality, or of any nation which is imbued with a senti- 
ment of pure patriotism. 

In this also may be found a sufficient answer to the ques- 
tion — Why do the Scotch people in Scotland not observe St. 
Andrew's Day ? There is no need for observing any such 
landmark, for Scottish patriotism is still active and diligent, 
and is ever at work in countless ways. Let a single Scotch 
privilege be assailed and a thousand voices are heard in pro- 
test. Let any slur be cast upon the honor or the rights of 
the country, and meetings will be held in all the villages and 
towns until the attempted wrong-doing be abandoned. Every 
now and again a cry is raised regarding some such attempt, 
showing how closely the Scottish patriots continue to watch 
over their hard-won rights. In various other ways the flame 
of patriotism is daily kept alive and glowing, and, therefore, 
there is no necessity for singling out any particular day for 
furthering on the work, nor any need of reviving memoiies 
of what is ever present and in operation. There are only a 
very few St. Andrew's Societies in Scotland. The principal 
one is that of Glasgow. Its sole purpose is patriotic, and it 
has but little to do beyond ferreting out petty instances of 



138 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

the ignoring of Scotland in matters which appertain to the 
government of Great Britain. 

But abroad, wherever a few Scots can gather, it is the day 
of all the year. For the preceding twelve months they may 
have been true Englishmen, good American citizens, loyal 
Canadians, devoted Australians, benign New-Zealanders, or 
kept themselves remarkably quiet among the French, 
German, Russian, Italian, or other foreigners, in whose midst 
they mav have taken up their abode. But on the 30th 
of each November they proclaim themselves, and, strange to 
say, the other nationalities rejoice with them, and listen with 
complacency to their legends of their country's greatness 
and worth. When the Scot is abroad, however, a curious 
change takes place in the disposition of St. Andrew, and 
instead of being a figure-head for sentiment and patriotism 
he becomes a very practical personage with charity for his 
great purpose. AH over the United States and Canada 
there are scattered numerous St. Andrew's Societies, whose 
chief object is to relieve the distress among those unfortu- 
nate Scots who, from some cause or other, have fallen by the 
wayside in the battle of life. These societies, year after 
year, do avast amount of good and bring out the kindliest 
feelings of the Scottish nature, which never is so patriotic or 
so brotherly as when it is far away from the heather hills. 
One or two of these societies possess considerable wealth, 
and distribute a wonderful amount of charity each successive 
year. Indeed, so much has the charitable feature supple- 
mented the patriotic idea in these societies that the old 
motto of the saint has been abandoned, and in its place 
'< Relieve the Distressed " has been substituted. 

On St. Andrew's Day these societies generally have a 
meeting of some sort — a banquet, ball, concert, or other 
festival — at which the work of the year is talked over and 
plans laid for the future, and, where necessary, increased 
contributions asked from ''Scots wha hae." Long may 
these institutions flourish and carry on their blessed woik! 
By so doing the members are perhaps building better than 
they know, for they are truly aiding in bringing to pass that 
glorious time when the brotherhood of man will be acknowl- 
edged over all the earth. Thus the good work carried on 
by the saint during his lifetime is still continued, although 
the ends which he had in view are being reached through 



ANNIVERSARIES AND HOLIDAYS. 139 

a different channel than that in which he labored. He 
preached the gospel of love through Christ. His modern 
followers show the example of the Christian life through 
charity, which is simply one of the forms of love. Ihus by 
such thoughtful kindness these St. Andrew s Societies are 
inspiring men with tenderer feelings towards each other, 
making the rich lighten the burdens of the poor, and the 
lightsome of heart turn aside to uplift the sorrowing and the 

fallen 

This completes the Scottish calendar. In it, if fully 
observed, the Scot has opportunities for demonstrating his 
patriotism, his charity, his love for his native land and his 
regard for the things that used to horrify and amuse his 
forefathers away back in the dim past. If he only add his 
own birthday to the list and append it to this list of celebra- 
tions, he will have as many days in the year as he could 
well wish to extoll himself and magnify the greatness of the 
land of his birth. 



SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. 

A BELIEF in supernatural agencies seems implanted 
naturally in the hearts of mankind. In every corner 
of the vvorld, no matter how degraded or depraved the people 
may be, there invariably exists an impression, of some sort or 
other, of the existence of powers not of the world, but yet on 
or about the world, or exerting some influence upon it. Among 
the uneducated or the savage, superstition and a belief in the 
supernatural have the firmest hold upon the mind, and are 
regarded with greater seriousness than in more polished and 
refined nations. The reason is, that there are so many 
things which the uneducated man or the savage cannot 
understand or comprehend, and, being beyond his compre- 
hension, he attributes them to some superior intellect which 
is above the world or beyond its pale. The savage, for 
instance, can understand and appreciate brute force, but he 
would think of electricity as the work of the gods. At first 
he is frightened at firearms and hesitates to use them, because 
he thinks they are bewitched ; but he soon comes to know 
their nature and gladly uses them, although a Catling gun 
would frighten him out of his wits. The Lavage sees some- 
thing supernatural in everything which astonishes or perplexes 
him; in bad harvests, dearth of game, famine, pestilence, and 
even for simple ill-luck he lays the blame to ihe malignant 
perversity of his idol or idols, and seeks to propitiate them 
by offering bribes of rice, lights, incense, or tobacco, or by 
smashing them into atoms. Even in the most highly edu- 
cated and cultivated nations superstition holds its own, and 
in some sort or other it is constantly cropping up in unlikely 
places. The educated man does not care to admit that he 
entertains any such notions or even anything approaching to 
them, but in his heart of hearts he nearly always carries some 
pet superstition, and it sways and governs his actions more 
than he would permit even himself to believe. I have gen- 
erally found that the more loudly a man proclaims his con- 
tempt for superstitions and things supernatural, the more is he 



I 



SCOTTISH SUPERSllTlONS. 141 

under their dominion. It is natural in man to believe in 
such things, and so it will continue to be until man can gaze 
nto he fnflnite and understand and determine the hidden 
sources of all things. In a word, until he throws off this 
r^ortality and assumes immortality, and is invested with 
hio-her wisdom and power than he now possesses, man will 
contfnur to be openly or secretly a believer in an active un- 
seen world and in supernatural agencies. 

As with individuals, so with nations. By the hrencn 
Revolution of 1798, superstition was to be banished forever 
^om the sacred^soil of France, and, through her influence 
and example, from the known world. What was the result ? 
The revolutionists threw down the superstition of Ro-^e, and 
in its place accepted the ^"P^r^tition of the popu^ce they 
denounced the teachings and authority of the Chuich and 
enthroned a harlot instead of a priest bes.de the altar of 
Notre Dame. They rejected the superstitions which had 
comedown to them softened and brightened by the influen- 
ces of Christianity, and fell back upon themselves. As an 
a most natural coiLquence licence prevailed and supei^st - 
tion controlled them more than it ever had done before^ 
During that awful era in European history, when France 
was wfuowing in blood and Paris furnished daily a succe - 
sion o horrors, the Continent was never at any period in 
Modern times, more completely under the dominion of su- 
Trsti on nor was ever superstition of a more sensual and 
dearacled' character. The sentiment of the supernatural is 
too deeply implanted in man to be rooted out or deadened 
b^° human a-Zcies. If one form is dissipated another rises 
\n its place ° No matter what a man's religion may be, no 
'i^aue^ even if he pretend to no religion at a 1 her s 
still something outside of nature, outside of what is pier 
: ly termed reality, which awakes ^t least his curiosity if 1 
does not charm and enthrall his intellect. From that ne 

cannot escape. The French R-^.'-"^-'^,^'^^ trumpet 
very idea of God, but they woi|h,ppedfiist he strumpet 
.' Pnrldess of Reason " and then the undefined Supieme 
po'^ofet'gh Snges in truth, although in the present day 

^"i::ifgoM trh:;rrSrcin^^is":fde.spread beUef 



142 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

in supernatural things and the prevalence of superstitious 
ideas, as, in their judgment, they betray the ignorance, 
credulity, and unintellectual qualities of mankind. 'J'o many 
thoughtful minds, however, their existence is one of the 
grandest of all earthly arguments for the existence of the 
Deity and the certainty of a hereafter. If no notion existed 
in the human breast of another world than this, there cer- 
tainly would not be any superstition; but it is the innate 
certainty of this which gives rise to all the brownies, fairies, 
luck-tokens, forms, ceremonies and usages which have inter- 
ested, delighted and sometimes awed the people of the earth 
from the earliest times right down into this wonderful age of 
progress in thought, education and science. Superstition is 
always reverent, always acknowledges a higher power than 
man, always presupposes a sphere beyond the ken of the 
human vision. Superstition in its purest sense is a part of 
natural religion, and as such should always be regarded as 
the humble homage of the merely human intellect to some- 
thing greater than itself. That something, religion teaches 
us, is the mystery which will be fully explained when we 
stand at last before the great white throne. 

In Scotland a belief in, and reverence for, the supernatural 
has always prevailed among people of all classes. The 
physical features of the country are alone sufficient to ac- 
count for this. The ever-present wail or roar of the sea 
along the coasts arouses a sense of something eerie, some- 
thing beyond the world, as the murmur of the shell always 
instills a sad, undefinable sentiment into the hearts of chil- 
dren. Then a similar feeling is experienced among the hills, 
where the elements lower and gloom, and the thunder re- 
verberates with an awful sound, and the lightning gleams 
with a lurid intensity as it leaps madly from crag to crag ; 
where the mists often throw a grey veil over the most 
majestic scenes, and the scream of the eagle seems the voice 
of a demon as it pierces through the clouds, muffled and 
deadened by the thick, heavy air ; where the sun glints on 
the rock or spreads over the valley, casting strange shadows 
and daily giving a new phase, a new look to a well-known 
landscape ; where the moon, sweeping in majestic beauty 
across a track of deep, dark blue, is seen in all her brightness, 
a veritable lamp of the night, and in a moment or two sailing 
into the recesses of a cloud and reducing everything to 



SCOTTISH SUPERS IITIONS. 143 

darkness, or by her shadow twisting all things visible to the 
eye into fantastic shapes. The murmuring breeze on the 
Highland carse or the Lowland meadow seems to carry with 
it a message of another world; and even the rivers suggest 
something above humanity, as the Tweed, with its joyous 
ripple, tells tales of love and peace and purity, and the wan, 
wan water of Yarrow flows like a dirge of melancholy, decay 
and death. These scenes naturally inspire awe and thought. 
They in turn force a belief in the supernatural, and the 
supernatural begets religion ; for both refer to the same 
future, and the one is but a refinement of the other. The 
one is a groping in the dark along a bleak and dismal way; 
the other is a journey on a bright and beaten track with the 
goal full in view and the Bible as an all-sufficient staff. 

All the superstitions which have held sway in Scotland 
have been more or less identified with the religious sentiment 
of the people. Among the Druids the sun was the central 
object of worship, and traces of this worship can still be 
found in custom.s which have come down to us, or which 
may be read about as having existed until comparatively 
recent times. One of the most scrupulously observed days 
in the Druids' calendar was ' May-day, which came down 
almost to our own time with several peculiar observances as 
Beltane, a combination of two words meaning the fire of 
the sun-god, Baal. On Beltane all the fires in a district 
were extinguished, and one grand fire was lighted as an 
offering to the god, and sacrifices were made, even to the 
extent of human life. So late as the beginning of the present 
century such fires were lighted at Beltane in several parts 
of the Highlands. According to custom a Beltane fire was 
Ignited in a circular space around which these modern 
Druids were seated. A cake was baked, and when ready 
was cut into as many pieces as there were people present. 
One piece was blackened with cha-rcoal, and, with all the 
rest, thrown into a hat or bag. Each person, blindfolded, 
took a piece, and the individual who drew the blackened 
bit became the victim. His penalty was to leap through or 
over the fire three times, the last form of the old rite which 
demanded a life. In Ayrshire, at the end of each harvest, 
children often build a fire by the wayside and call it the 
taunel. This is the fire of Baal and is simply an offering to 
the sun. The sun-worship, too, may be seen lingering in 



1^4 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

the Hallowe'en fires which are still lighted in several parts 
of the country. This sun-worship was not, as has often been 
said, a mere ignorant superstition, but it was as truly a re- 
ligious belief and system as any which man ever embraced 
until the light of the Scriptures came to throw even the sun- 
light into the shade. To the Druids, to the Celts all over 
Europe, the sun was the mightiest object in the universe. 
It spread light, it diffused warmth, it had motion, its appear- 
ance in its risings and settings was always beautiful, some- 
times marvelously so, and its course was seen day after day. 
AVhat wonder is it that these simple, unbiased peoples, groping 
after the truth, knowing their weakness in the midst of their 
strength, and with yearnings and longings for the other life, 
fell down and worshipped the most wonderful and mysteri- 
ous object which their eyes beheld ? In this idolatry, as it 
has been called, there was nothing akin to that impulse 
which makes men worship idols fashioned by human hands 
out of wood or stone or metal. It was something deeper, 
more reverent, more beautiful, more enduring. It was an 
answer to an inward desire or impulse to worship something 
which was more than human, more than mortal, and they 
sought to gratify that desire by selecting as their god the 
most glorious orb in the heavens. Their worship led them 
at least to look up and to attempt to penetrate the awful 
mystery of the sky. Ordinary idolatry is the opposite. 
It is of the earth and in the earth it is always groveling. 
These Druids, too, it should be remembered, were by no 
means ignorant or unenlightened men. They had schools, 
of a sort, where their mysteries were inculcated and 
morality taught, and w^here they discoursed on the stars, 
the sun, the moon, the gods and similar topics. It often 
took twenty years of study ere a man was admitted into the 
priesthood, so that their system was apt to be pretty thor- 
oughly understood by its teachers. Remains of some of 
their altars still exist in Scotland, and prove that the arts of 
architecture were not unknown to them, and also that the 
people must have co-operated as heartily in the upbuilding 
of these temples as they did in the more pretentious abbeys 
and cathedrals of a later age. 

Among the Celts water has always been associated, in 
some way or other, with the supernatural and mysterious. 
A running stream was superior, for some reason, to the 



SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. I45 

witches or warlocks or brownies, or spirits of any kind, who 
used to play cantrips on the decent country folks. This is 
well illustrated in the immortal poem of "Tarn o' Shanter," 
where the redoubtable hero spurs on his guid grey mare to 
reach the keystone of the auld brig o' Doon. 

" There at them thou thy tail may toss: 
A runnin' stream they daurna cross.'' 

In the olden times many wells throughout the country were 
regarded as possessing wonderful powers for healing, etc , 
and to these offerings were regularly made. A well at 
Montblarie, in Banffshire, was particularly honored in this 
way. The bushes in its vicinity were decorated with rags of 
garments, and in the well itself were any number of farthings 
and bodies, the frugal offerings of the pilgrims who came 
from far and near to pay homage to it. Tribute of this kind, 
however, was held sacred, and woe be to the sacrilegious 
wretch who would dare to appropriate any of it to his own 
personal use! An old tradition tells us that a piper once stole 
some money from one of those wells at Larg, in Kirkcud- 
brightshire. Like pipers in general, this one was drouthy 
and at once invested some of his ill-gotten gains in a mug of 
ale. While drinking it he was seized with illness, and was 
unable to recover until, after having restored to the well the 
money he had abstracted, he had drunk a large quantity of 
its waters. Possibly the last part of the punishment was the 
most severely felt, as pipers and water never agree very well 
together, according to general experience. Kingcase well, 
near Ayr, was long supposed to be peculiarly efficacious as 
a means of curing leprosy, and tradition avers that the well 
was miraculously discovered by Kmg Robert the Bruce, who 
had become afflicted with that terrible disease through the 
hardships and vicissitudes he had undergone in battling for 
his crown. A well near Portpatrick used to be held in 
great respect for its virtues in freeing people from the 
effects of witchcraft. Victims were brought from all parts 
of the country to benefit by it at Beltane, for its efficacy was 
only potent at that time and at each change of the moon. 
People who were bathed in it at these particular times were 
at once freed from whatever spell had been cast upon them. 
Thus we find the influence of the sun, the moon and the 
water all brought into use to accomplish a cure, proving the 
estimate which the people had of the power of witchcraft, 



146 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

and their belief that they had in their midst the opportunity 
of appealing successfully from its effects to a still more 
potent power, or combination of powers. The rites per- 
formed at these wells were generally of the most simple 
character. A coin would be thrown in, and from the way in 
which it descended good or evil might be implied. Some- 
times a wooden platter would be placed cautiously and 
carefully on the surface of the water, and the direction in 
which it turned, after leaving the hands of the enquirer, 
enabled that individual to read his or her weird. Often a 
pebble would be thrown into the water and the future fore- 
told by the width of the ripple dr ring which it caused. At 
times, too, the reflection of the moon on the well or river 
enabled the curious to discover scenes which at other 
seasons were beyond the ken of human eyes. 

Thus we have the sun or fire, and water as two leading 
superstitions of the Celtic time, remnants of which have 
come down to our day. But there was this difference, that 
while the sun, or fire, was the favorite divinity of the priests 
and the upper classes — if I may use such a term in speaking 
of those early Scots — water was the power which the common 
people oftenest appealed to, and they made it their own. 
Fire was costly in those days, while water flowed every- 
where and was at every one's command. One evidence of 
this distinction, as well as of the homage which was paid to 
these elements, may be found in the ordeals of fire and 
water so common in the middle ages. An accused person, 
if of rank or noble birth, could protest his innocence, and 
prove it to the satisfaction of his equals, or of those con- 
cerned, by the ordeal of fire. Among peasants or people of 
ordinary degree, the ordeal of water answered the same 
purpose and was deemed equally efficacious and certain. 
So great a hold had these ordeals upon the people, and so 
implicit was the trust reposed in them, that they were even 
acknowledged by law, and thus, in the reign of David I., an 
enactment was made providing that they take place only in 
presence of duly authorized representatives of the royal 
authority. 

The sacredness of water was indeed a marked feature in the 
religion of all the Celtic race. Ireland has many sacred wells; 
so have France and Italy and other parts of Europe. They 
cured all things — leprosy, deafness, lunacy, sore eyes, rickets, 



SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. 1 47 

and sores of every description, besides ailments " too numer- 
ous to mention," as the auctioneers used to say in their 
catalogues. Some, like modern patent medicines, were 
regular cure-alls, as St. Bernard's at Edinburgh, and Trinity 
at Gask, in Perthshire. How the aid of these wells was 
invoked may be learned from the following account of the 
method pursued in curing lunacy at St. Fillan's Well, 
Tyndrum, Perthshire, which I quote from an article by the late 
Rev. Alexander Magregor, of Inverness : "The lunatics 
were first plunged into the water, wherein they were tumbled 
and tossed about rather roughly. They were then carried 
into the adjacent chapel of St. Fillan's and there secured 
with ropes tied in a special way. A celebrated bell, with a 
history of its own, was then placed with great solemnity on 
the patient's head. Then the poor creature was left all night 
alone in the dreary chapel, and, if in the morning he was 
found unloosed, hopes were entertained that he would 
recover his reason, but the case was hopeless if found still in 
his bonds. Very frequently the patients were released from 
the bonds and tormentors by death, caused by cold and all 
the cruelties inflicted upon them." All this, of course, may 
sound very ridiculous to us, who are fortunate enough to live 
in an age of enlightenment, but it was very real, very im- 
pressive and very important to our ancestors. And, after 
all, it had at least a foundation of truth and practical 
common-sense. It is well known that many of these wells 
even to the present day possess remedial virtues, the result 
of the mineral matter deposited in them as they pass 
through the earth. These virtues undoubtedly were known 
to the early Scots, and they could account for them in no 
other way than by investing them with supernatural powers. 
Modern chemistry has dissipated more witchcraft and laid 
bare more old-time mysteries than all the other arts com- 
bined. 

The superstitions which came mto vogue with a later 
religion, that of Rome, and which were the most ridiculous 
when that church became so gross, immoral and ignorant as 
to invite the Reformation, would require a whole volume 
were they to be detailed or even discussed. Most of them 
passed away with the clean sweep which Knox and the other 
Reformers made when they harried the abbeys and cloisters; 
such of them as survived assumed other forms and were very 



148 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

likely the remains of superstitions which prevailed even 
before the Church of Rome fastened itself upon the land, and 
which had been fostered and adapted by it to its own ends. 
Such superstitions were engrained too deeply upon the 
minds, affections, sympathies and tradtitions of the people to 
be much affected even by changes of religion, and most of 
them in some form or another still lurk in the minds of the less 
educated people in the community even to the present time. 
I'he Romish Church had a happy faculty of adapting local 
traditions, wherever it found them, to its own purposes and 
to serve its own ends. This faculty was one of the secrets 
of the success of its missionaries, and by its aid they accom- 
plished wonders. But though it adapted it did not own, and 
when its yoke was thrown off these adaptations and returned 
to the people, from whom they seemed originally to have 
sprung. 

A belief in witchcraft, for instance, appears to have pre- 
vailed in Scotland from the earliest times, and to have been 
fostered during the dark ages of the Church, and it still has 
a hold, although a comparatively insignificant one, upon the 
bulk of the people, especially those who reside outside of the 
larger cities or towns. Of the prevailing belief in witchcraft, 
I give as an example the following well-authenticated 
instances which occurred in Ross-shire in 1883 and appeared 
in nearly all the Scottish newspapers at the time : 

'^ A party of gipsies, who had recently been encamped in a 
district of the west coast of Ross-shire, took the liberty of 
grazing their horses on pasture belonging to a township of 
small tenants there. The tenants resented, and drove away 
intruders. On taking their departure some of the gipsies 
were heard to remark that the tenants should not be quite so 
conservative of their pasture, for ere long they would have 
no cattle to graze upon it. At the time no notice was taken 
of this implied threat. Soon after, however, three valuable 
cows belonging to one of the tenants died in quick succes- 
sion, while two of the other tenants lost a cow each. The ill- 
ness of which these animals died was of very short duration, 
and such of the carcasses as were examined presented no 
morbid appearance. A respectable farmer, who is con- 
sidered an authority in veterinary matters, had been called 
to see one of the animals shortly before it died, and he at 
once pronounced it to have been " witched," as the symptoms 



SDOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. I49 

were those of no known disease. On the strength of this 
statement, coupled with the ominous language of the gipsies, 
a considerable section of the community unhesitatingly 
attributed the death of the cattle to the agency of witchcraft ! 
As a charm against the evil influences at work, one of the 
tenants, acting on the advice of the initiated, had the door 
of his byre changed from one side of the house to the other. 
Pending the result of this charm, a young man has gone to 
one of the western isles to consult a witch-doctor said to be m 
practice there. It maybe stated that in the district in ques- 
tion there are two witch-doctors residing within a distance of 
20 miles of each other. One of these, who has been dis- 
credited for some time on account of professional bungling, 
is generally regarded as an impostor, and has suffered in h.s 
practice accordingly. The other, who evidently has played 
his cards better, still retains the unbounded confidence of 
the credulous in these matters, and his services are much 
sought after in cases of suspected witchcraft." A few days 
later the following additional particulars were given : *' Since 
then three other cows are said to have been witched in the 
same township ; but, although, much reduced in condition 
and debilitated, they have as yet, thanks to the incantations 
of the witch-doctor, survived the satanic influence at work. 
While the credulous, who number not a few, are quite satis- 
fied that the cattle have been ^'witched," there appears to 
be some uncertainty as to who the witch really is, and sub- 
sequent events have served to exculpate the gipsies who at 
first were blamed in the matter. Indeed, the fact of one of 
the affected animals when at liberty being in the habit of 
going up to the dwelling-house of one of the neighboring 
tenants and lowing pitifully at the door has been quite 
sufficient to transfer suspicion from the gipsies to this ten- 
ant's wife, who, in consequence, is subjected to a species of 
petty persecution, not to say boycotting, at the hands of the 
sufferers from witchcraft and their sympathizers. The young 
man who had gone to the western isles for the purpose of 
consulting a famous witch-doctor there, has returned to the 
village ; but as absolute silence on the subject of his inter- 
course with the professors of demonology is considered 
essential to the success of his mission, he is of course very 
reticent regarding his transactions with them. That the last 
three animals ' witched ' have so far survived is, however, 



150 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

understood to be owing to his visit to the island of* Lewis, 
which has long been proverbial for witchcraft." 

Here is an instance which was brought to light a few years 
ago by a writer whose name I do not know. The story is 
given as he told it in a communication to the Edinburgh 
Scotstnan : " During the summer we were at a sea-shore 
village that for years has possessed its railway and tele- 
graph, its ministers and churches. There, we were informed, 
was a bewitched woman, lying for the last sixteen years in 
pain and helplessness upon her bed. Sixteen years ago her 
mother, a notorious witch, ' laid witchcraft ' for a certain 
man. The first person, however, who crossed the spot was 
her own daughter, and on her the spell at once took effect, 
striking her down into a state of helpless and hopeless suffer- 
ing. So powerful had been the charms that the mother was 
unable to relieve her child ; but at her own death, which 
happened in a few years, the witch-power was transferred to 
her youngest daughter. This transference of power was 
accompanied with the transference of the suffering of her 
elder sister, who, at once relieved, rose up in perfect health. 
The new witch, however, did not approve of this, and soon 
found means of returning the suffering to her sister ; so that 
while the one enjoys the power and the privileges of witcherie, 
the other poor creature must experience its wrath, and this 
so long as she lives." 

The sincere belief in witchcraft which prevailed in Scot- 
land, and which, as I have shown, continues to exist, is due 
in a great measure to the graphic manner in which it is 
handled in the Bible. The story of the Witch of Endor is 
still a gruesome one to the Scottish boy, and once read 
seems to linger and dwell m his memory throughout his life. 
But although it has its humorous side, the history of witch- 
craft in Scotland is marked by cruelties, crimes, persecu- 
tions and privations. These things are the more sad when 
we remember that the victims were in the great majority of 
cases old and infirm, and maimed or disabled by rheumatism 
or other disease, and sometimes they were young people 
whose very innocence and beauty, and perhaps mental 
attainments, caused them to fall under popular suspicion. In 
the case of witchcraft, suspicion was all that was necessary 
to ensure a belief in guilt. So far as can be reckoned, no 
fewer than 4,000 persons were executed in Scotland from the 



SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. I5I 

time the persecutions for that evil commenced until 1722, 
when the last victim, an old woman, was condemned to 
death by the sheriff of Caithness and " suffered " at Dornoch. 
This is an awful blot to rest upon the history of a Christian 
country, and the only palliation that can bje urged on behalf 
of Scotland is that she was no worse in this respect than her 
southern and continental neighbors. In many of the latter, 
however, the persecution of the witches was simply an out- 
burst of natural brutality and wantonness such as led to the 
baiting of the Jews in the middle ages. In Scotland it arose 
from a supposed religious injunction wrongly construed and 
applied. They believed the words in Exodus, *' Thou shalt 
not suffer a witch to live," to be a divine command that was 
still in force and had to be carried out literally. Neglect of 
this supposed command brought woe and havoc on them- 
selves. A single witch by her spells and cantrips could, 
they thought, ruin a whole household or lay desolate an 
entire country-side, and the only way to escape from her 
malignant influence was by inflicting on her the penalty of 
death. 

According to popular ideas, the spells, incantations, con- 
coctions and doings of these witches were many and gro- 
tesque. They made effigies in clay of those they intended 
to smite ; and by sticking into these figures pins, bodkins 
and the like, made their victims suffer the most horrible 
pains and tortures from which death was a glad release. 
Their eyes were endowed with a terrible power, and when 
they fastened their gaze on anything possessed of life that 
life began to fade out and finally disappear. They made 
powerful concoctions from such ingredients as the flesh of 
newly born babes, toad's blood, owls' eyes, and so forth, 
which enabled them to work their will with extraordinary 
power. Their spells and incantations gave them the privi- 
lege of calling to their aid the demons of the lower regions, 
and on important occasions the august help of the prince of 
darkness himself. They were themselves endowed with 
wondrous powers. Some of them could change their form 
into that of a toad, a mouse or other animal ; some could 
vanish from human gaze altogether for a time. Nearly all 
could ride through the air in the darkness of night, some on 
broomsticks instead of horses, while others simply flew, and 
time and space were as nothing to them. They lived long, 



152 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

if allowed to live, but at last they joined the evil spirits be- 
low and came bdck to earth in the eerie midnight hour to 
play their hellish tricks upon the good, the innocent and the 
unwary. The only thing that could arrest the evil propensi- 
ties of a person so endowed and thus leagued was the pres- 
ence of the cross. Could a cross be suspended somehow on 
a witch's clothing or stitched in the sewing of her dress, she 
was harmless. Even in comparatively recent years the sign 
of the cross was deemed sufficient to disarm her. A farmer 
in Galloway, half a century ago, was greatl}; concerned by 
the unhealthiness of his cattle and the number of deaths 
among them. At last he became satisfied that they were 
bewitched by a certain woman, and so he set himself most 
vigilantly to watch, that he might catch her about his prem- 
ises. This, however, he failed in doing ; and as his stock 
was rapidly dying out, and himself being reduced to poverty, 
meeting this woman one day on the roadside, he drew out 
his sharp knife and " crossed her," that is, cut across in the 
skin of her forehead, so deeply that the blood flowed down 
her face. As might be expected, the man was soon in- 
dicted for an assault, and, though punished, he counted all 
that a light matter, congratulating himself and his neighbors 
on having so successfully unwitched one so notoriously un- 
lawful. The odd circumstance that the man's cattle did re- 
cover their health after that *' scoring" or '* crossing," and 
that subsequently his farm work was prosperous, helped 
much to confirm in their belief in witcherie many who had 
shrank from openly avowing it. 

King James VI. was a profound believer in witchcraft and 
in the Scriptural injunction to put them to death. Indeed, 
James made a hobby of his researches in the black art, and 
prided himself upon his acumen and discernment in discov- 
ering its possessors. He even wrote upon the theme with 
the assurance of a master, and until the day of his death took 
special credit for all he had written and done to outroot 
" demonologie " from his dominions and from Christendom. 
Here is an extract from Tytler's '* History of Scotland," 
however, which illustrates the emptiness of King James' pre- 
tensions, as well as the ignorance and credulity on which the 
whole theory of witchcraft was based: " An unhappy creature 
named Aitken was seized [in 1598] on suspicion, put to 
torture, and in her agony confessed herself guilty [of witch- 



SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. 1 53 

craft], named some associates, and offered to purge the 
country of the whole crew if she were promised her life. 
It was granted her, and she declared that she knew witches 
at once by a secret mark in their eyes which could not 
possibly be mistaken. The tale was swallowed. She was 
carried lor months from town to town throughout the coun- 
try, and in this diabolical circuit accused many innocent 
women, who, on little more than the evidence of a look, were 
tried and burnt. At last suspicion was roused. A woman 
whom she had convicted of having the devil's eye-mark was 
disguised, and, after an interval, again brought before her ; 
she acquitted her. The experiment was repeated with like 
success, and the miserable creature, falling on her knees, 
confessed that torture had made her a liar both against her- 
self and others." This woman's imposture was a common 
one wherever witchcraft was a crime, and witch -finding be- 
came one of the most terrorizing professions in the commu- 
nity. In England one of these professors, named Hopkins, 
caused hundreds of innocent people to be put to death before 
the very absurdity of permitting a legalized murderer to 
travel through the land, smiting whomsoever he pleased, be- 
came apparent. 

From witchcraft to fairies, brownies, kelpies, hobgoblins, 
and the elf-world in general, seems an easy transition, and 
yet they were invested with different powers than the witches. 
The latter were the evil spirits of an evil world ; the fairies and 
other elves were of a finer and more aristocratic stamp. A 
witch would do no good ; a fairy might. A witch was always an 
enemy ; a fairy, a brownie or even a hobgoblin sometimes 
proved a friend, and many stories have been told of the kindly 
offices performed by '' the wee green men at the back of the 
hill." Scottish poetry is fond of investigating and pourtray- 
ing the mysteries of fairy-land. It is the theme of True 
Thomas, of many of the oldest ballads, and it inspired the 
Ettrick Shepherd as he penned his matchless outburst of 
genius and fancy, ^'Kilmany. " 

III the elfin world the fairies were the leaders. Their 
features were beautiful, their forms perfect, and their general 
propensities were peaceful and humane. When aroused they 
were hard fighters and bitter enemies, but as earthly people 
seldom presumed to quarrel with them the effects of their 
anger were rarely felt. They were generally mentioned af- 



154 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

fectionately as " the kind people," '^ the good fairies." If 
they kidnapped a child, a man or a woman, from this mun- 
dane sphere to their own mystical realm, they treated them 
with courtesy and kindness ; and if the mortal was permitted 
or managed somehow to return, he or she never tired of 
speaking about the wondrous beauties of the places and the 
people they had seen, or the favors which had been bestowed 
on them. When the fairies quarrelled among themselves, as 
they sometimes did, their anger and violence were terrible, 
or at least seemed terrible to the eye of the mortal who be- 
held them. The brownies and hobgoblins were small in 
stature, and, as a rule, more or less deformed. They could 
do men a kindly action when so disposed, but this was seldom, 
and the record they have left is one of mischievous and 
malicious pranks. The kelpies were of the water, and were 
generally feared and hated on the coasts as well as in the in- 
land stretches of the seas and the lakes and rivers. 

The mystery of second -sight is one of the most interest- 
ing which the study of superstition in Scotland brings before 
us. It has not a trail of blood and cruelty behind it like that 
of witchcraft, nor is it so childish in its details as are the 
stories of fairy-world. It brings us right face to face with a 
psychological problem — a problem which has troubled all 
thinking people throughout the world, and which will con- 
tinue to trouble until we no more see through a glass darkly, 
but face to face. The theory on which second-sight is 
based, and indeed that on which all ghost stories are founded, 
is, as has been well said by another writer, *' the idea that 
every man has attached to him a spiritual duplicate of him- 
self, which therefore is the man and yet is not the man; a 
duplicate that has a sort of independent being, yet came not 
into existence till we were born, that grows and develops 
with the growth of our mortal selves ; that has the power, 
not of influencing us directl}^, but of revealing our present 
or future state to ourselves or others, and which, surviving 
us, is for a brief period able to reappear upon earth, even 
though we be dead and buried." 

A belief in second-sight formerly prevailed all over Scot- 
land, although its greatest adepts or professors were in the 
Highlands, where nearly every settlement had its Taibhsear, 
sometimes held in awe and sometimes jocularly spoken of, 
according to the power they evinced and the correctness of 






SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. 155 

their prognostications. The gift of second-sight was equally 
granted to both sexes, and was often as frequent and pro- 
nounced among the young as among the aged. The most 
sino-ular feature of this form of superstition was that its 
visfons, or prophecies, or sights almost always related to the 
gloomy and sad side of daily life— death, murder, accident, 
ruin suicide, treachery, shipwreck, were the most frequent 
amono- its themes— and if now and again the privilege was 
o-ranted the seer of beholding more cheerful phases of life, 
such as a bridal, or a victory, or the downcome of a foe, 
there was generally a bloody background to the pleasant 
picture. As to the truth of the second-sight visions th£re is 
no need hereto enquire very deeply. It is sufficient for the 
purpose of this essay to know that these visions were believed 
in and also that the seers themselves were thoroughly con- 
vinced of their truth. There can be no doubt on these 
points Many have, of course, denounced the seers as 
frauds, but the force of history is against our entertaining 
any such notion. , , i ^ 

In the Hio-hlands the firmest reliance used to be placed on 
the visions seen by the '^fay-men," and even in history 
their dreams or prognostications have been recorded, bo 
far as can be gathered, St. Columba had the faculty of 
second-sio-ht and it enabled him to describe a battle on the 
mainland while it was being fought. In the lives of Wallace 
and Bruce we find traces of the seers, and tradition states that 
the execution of Queen Mary was foretold by many of them 
lono- before it occurred, and their visions were corroborated by 
the^'facts even to the minutest details. The execution of 
Charles I. was foreseen in the same way, and so was the ex- 
ecution of the Marquis of Argyll. Highland story is full 
of instances of the power and truth of second-sight and 
several volumes could be filled with stories of incidents 
which might be regarded, more or less, as authentic. Here 
is one instance, told by General Stewart, of Garth, in his 
" Sketches of the Highlanders," and which may serve as a 
sample of many others : ^' Late on an autumnal evening in 
177 J the son of a neighboring gentleman came to my father s 
house He and my mother were from home, but several 
friends were in the house. The young gentleman spoke 
little and seemed absorbed in deep thought. Soon after he 
arrived he enquired for a boy of the family, then three years 



156 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

of age. When shown into the nursery the nurse was trying 
on a pair of new shoes and complained that they did not fit 
the child. * They will fit him before he will have occasion 
for them,' said the young gentleman. This called forth the 
chidings of the nurse for predicting evil to the child, who was 
stout and healthy. When he returned to the party he had 
left in the sitting-room, they cautioned him to take care that 
the nurse did not derange his new talent of the second-sight 
with some ironical congratulations on his pretended acquire- 
ment. This brought on an explanation, when he told them 
that as he had approached the end of a wooden bridge near the 
house he was astonished to see a crowd of people passing the 
bridge. Coming nearer he observed a person carrying a 
small cofifin, followed by twenty gentlemen, all of his acquain- 
tance, his own father and mine being of the number, with a 
concourse of the country people. He did not attempt 
to join, but saw them turn off to the right in the direction of 
the churchyard, which they entered. He then proceeded on 
his intended visit, much impressed with what he had seen, 
with a feeling of awe, and believing it to have been a repre- 
sentation of the death and funeral of a child of the family. 
The whole received perfect confirmation in his mind by the 
sudden death of the boy the following night and the conse- 
quent funeral, which was exactly as he had seen." 

Dr. Samuel Johnson, while on his journey in the Hebrides, 
devoted considerable attention to the study of the faculty of 
second-sight, with the view, as one of his biographers has 
asserted, of believing in its truth. Although he possessed a 
sturdy mind, the great lexicographer had a dread of death 
and a profound desire to penetrate the veil which hides the 
unseen world from mortal eyes. In his own words, however, 
he summed up his researches by saying that he was unable 
to *' advance his curiosity to conviction," and he ^' came 
away at last only willing to believe." Of the faculty itself 
he said : <' If a man on a journey far from home falls from a 
horse, another, who is perhaps at work about the house, 
sees him bleeding on the ground, commonly with a landscape 
of the place where the accident befalls him ; or another, it 
may be, driving home his cattle, or wandering in idleness, 
or musing in the sunshine, is suddenly surprised by the ap- 
pearance of a bridal ceremony or a funeral procession, and 
counts the mourners or attendants ; if he knows them he 



SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. 1 57 

tells their names ; but if not he can describe their dress- 
es." 

Dr. Beattie, a contemporary of Johnson's and a poet of the 
Scoto-English school, thought that second-sight arose from 
the influence of physical causes on ignorant minds, such as 
the influence of wild, gloomy, romantic scenery. This no 
doubt contributed to its extensive hold on the Highlanders, 
but it seems incredible that it alone was sufficient to bring 
about the phenomena. A perusal of the " Prophecies of the 
Brahan Seer," by Mr. Alex. Mackenzie, of Inverness, will 
bring before us evidences that the seers were not always im- 
postors. Some of the prophecies of that bard are shown to 
have been probably the result of natural shrewdness. But 
there are others which certainly require a deeper philosophy to 
explain them, notably that in which the doom of Seaforth was 
clearly foretold. Such things startle one, even in this matter- 
of-fact age, when almost everything which once appeared 
supernatural is being exploded by science and enlightenment. 
The readers of Sir Walter Scott's "Legend of Montrose" 
or Campbell's ** Lochiel's Warning " may with justice think 
lightly of the pourtrayal of the -supernatural in these produc- 
tions, but in the " Prophecies of the Brahan Seer " we meet 
with the visions of a real man, told in all their simple truth, and 
verified by many of the events themselves happening long 
after the prophecies were uttered. Others are yet, so far as 
Mr. Mackenzie can tell us, unfulfilled. A recent writer 
thus sums up the whole question, and with this quotation we 
leave it : " Many in these later days, while they have failed 
to fix the antiquity of the second-sight, instead of defiantly 
and dogmatically denying its existence, would rather reason 
themselves into results by saying that it seems degrading 
to the idea of divine power even to suppose that thereby 
special miracles would be wrought in order to foretell to poor, 
rustic and illiterate people the marriage or the death of some 
Highland peasant, the success or the swamping of some fish- 
ing-boat, the arrival of some stranger, or the fortune of some 
fri'end. Others, holding that reliable facts are indispensable 
to conviction, go further and say that spectral appearances 
may be caused by dreams or diseases, by optical illusions or 
fervid imaginations, and that as education has advanced, 
and intercourse with intelligent people has extended, the be- 
lief in the second-sight, like the belief in astrology and 



1 58 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

witchcraft, is now well-nigh a thing of the past. Thus the 
matter now stands. Some fondly believe in the faculty of 
second-sight, others waver in regard to it, and others firmly 
deny it; while some are very unwilling to give up a long-held 
and fondly fostered opmion, others are no less unwilling to 
accept of it as a well-authenticated reality, and look upon 
the whole as a poetic plausibility or a pleasant romance." 

Of minor superstitions Scotland has more than can well 
be enumerated. Some of these are common to the whole 
country or a great part of it, others seem to hold good only 
in a portion of it, while others are the private property of 
some particular family. Indeed, in the olden times all the 
leading families in the Highlands had their own particular 
omen, and even to the present day the connection of these 
families with unearthly visitors is believed by some to be 
maintained. The days of the week have also their signifi- 
cance, and in connection with the births of children they 
formed themselves into a rude sort of rhyme which was once 
very popular and may still be heard in some country 
places : 

" Monday's bai- n is fair of face ; 
Tuesday's bairn is fu' o' grace ; 
W^ednesday's bairn's the child of woe ; 
Thursday's bairn has far to go ; 
Friday's bairn is loving and growing ; 
Saturday's bairn works hard for his living; 
But the bairn that is born on the Sabbath day 
Is lucky and bonny, and wise and gay." 

The popular superstitions were often expressed in rhyme, as 
above. Here is one concerning the weather : 

" West wind to the bairn 

When ga'an for its name, 
And rain to the corpse 

Carried to its lang hame. 
A bonny blue sky 

To welcome the bride, 
As she gangs to the kirk 

Wi' the sun on her side." 

Plants were formerly greatly in vogue for their magical 
powers, and the healing virtues which many of them are 
now known to possess were in the olden time credited to the 
supernatural. In Cameron's valuable work on ''Gaelic 
Names of Plants " we find many illustrations of this. 
" Watercress," he says, " was used as a charm by the Celts 
both of Ireland and Scotland. To facilitate milk stealing, 
cutting the tops of the cresses with a pair of scissors, the 
thief would mutter the names of certain persons who had 



SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. 1 59 

COWS, and also the words, * S' liomsa-leath do choud sa ' 
(half thine is mine). These words were repeated as often 
as a sprig was cut, each sprig representing the individual 
that was to be robbed of his milk and cream. Some women 
made use of the root of groundsel as an amulet against such 
charms, by putting it amongst the cream. Another 
superstition clung to the thorn ; it was believed that for 
every tree cut down in any district one of the inhabitants 
in that district would die that year. Many ancient forts, 
and the thorns which surrounded them, were preserved by 
the veneration, or rather dread, with which the thorns were 
regarded. It was, and still is, a common belief in the 
Highlands that each blackberry contains a poisonous 
worm ; and another popular belief, probably kept up to 
prevent children eating them when unripe, is that the fairies 
defiled them at Michaelmas and Hallowe'en. The mountain 
ash was planted near every dwelling-house as the most 
propitious of trees ; hence it may be found even far up in 
the mountain glens, where it usually marks the site of an 
old shieling. In fishing-boats rigged with sails, a piece of 
this tree was usually fastened to the halyard, the fisher- 
men holding it to be an indispensable necessity ; and it was 
also a common practice to bind a small piece to a cow's tail 
as a charm against witchcraft. When malt did not yield its 
due proportion of spirits, the mountain ash was a sovereign 
remedy ; and in addition to its other virtues, its fruit was 
supposed to cause longevity. The prickles of the goose- 
berry bush were used as charms for the cure of warts and 
the stye. A wedding-ring laid over the wart, and pricked 
through the ring with a gooseberry thorn, was expected to 
remove the wart ; and ten gooseberry thorns were plucked 
to cure the stye — nine being pointed at the part affected, 
and the tenth thrown over the left shoulder. Horses were 
said to lose their shoes where the moonwort grew ; and to 
this day on Lord Dunsany's Irish property there is a field 
abounding in this plant where it is supposed all his stock 
lose their nails if they happen to be pastured there. There 
is a Limerick story referring to a man in Clonmel jail who 
could open all the locks by means of this plant. The same 
old superstition still lingers in the Highlands." 

Among a number of superstitions collected at random, 
I may give the following as representative of the whole. 



l6o SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Spitting into the shoe of one's right foot ensures protection 
from magic influences. An otter's bladder, no matter how 
old, is a sure cure for gravel, unless the cure is commenced 
on a Friday ; any charm used on that unlucky day is ren- 
dered thereafter useless and harmless. A hare crossing 
one's path is an unlucky omen, and so is a cat, especially a 
black one. Unusual merriment is a sure forerunner of 
some unusual misfortune, and the loud, careless laughter 
of children may yet be heard checked by the grave words, 
" Wheesht, bairn ! there's something afore ye." If an odd 
number sit at table, such as 7, 9, 11, 13, it is deemed 
unlucky. The howling of a dog at night is a warning that 
a death is taking place in the neighborhood, if not in the 
house to which the dog belongs. It is an unlucky omen 
for a grave to be opened on a Sunday or for a corpse to 
remain soft after death. The Lord's Prayer repeated at 
low breath is a sure preventive of ill from ghosts, witches 
or ferlies. The water used in the christening of children 
was often bottled up and carefully preserved as a cure-all 
for the ailments which might befall the little one. One 
might fill whole pages with naming such minor curiosities 
of superstition, but these must suffice. Readers of Scott, 
Burns, Hogg, and others of the popular authors of Scotland 
will doubtless remember many more, and even the entire 
poetic and romantic literature is full of allusions to such topics. 
In these popular superstitions there is nothing vulgar, no- 
thing treacherous, nothing rude. We may sneer at this 
whole subject as we will, but these simple charms and 
omens still have their believers, and will continue to have 
their believers until the crack o' doom. Old Thomas of 
Ercildoune — " True Thomas," as he was once affection- 
ately called — is not regarded as a myth altogether by the 
country people, and his prophecy that 

" Tide, tide, whate'er betide, 
There'll aye be Haigs on Bemersyde," 

is as firmly believed in throughout the South country as is 
anything in the Gospels. Peden's prophecies, long hawked 
about the country in a penny chap-book by the '^ flying 
stationers," still command respect and a wonderful amount 
of belief in their correctness and power. The great advance 
of education and the cheapness of literature since the in- 
troduction of the printing press have subdued but not dissi- 



SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS. l6l 

pated the old superstitions of the land. For Scotland is a 
land of superstition, as it is a land of religion, song, poetry 
and romance. The superstition is inspired by its glens, its 
hills, its streams, its scenery, its story, and were it to be 
forgotten the land would lose part of its charm, and poetry 
and romance be robbed of one of their most prolific realms. 
The superstitions of Scotland are those of a simple-minded, 
earnest, sincere and thoughtful people. They supply the 
place of something else, something more definite, about the 
boundary line between this world and the next, and their 
whole tendency is to make the mind turn upward and above 
the things of this life, and reason— with obscurity and singu- 
lar grotesqueness, it is true, but with all solemnity and rev- 
erence — regarding the life which is to come. 



SCOTTISH SPORTS. 

A PASSION for out-door sports seems to be a natural 
characteristic of the inhabitants of all northern coun- 
tries. In warm climates such diversions, which require some 
exertion of the body, are by no means general, if we except 
hunting, which, however, in such regions is rather a necessity 
than a sport. In the exhilarating atmosphere of the temper- 
ate zone, where the weather is cool enough to be at all 
times pleasant and the blood tingles with a healthy cir- 
culation when a little more exercised than usual, out- 
door sports are common and enjoyed by all classes. In 
riiost parts of North America, in France, Germany, Switzer- 
land, Holland, Sweden and Britain, there are to be found 
pastimes peculiar to each, as well as many which appear to 
be common to them all. 

In Scotland from the very earliest times such sports formed 
a prominent feature in the social history of the people. 
Every village had its haugh, every town its meadow ; and on 
the long summer evenings, in that twilight which has done so 
much to develop Scottish character and muscle, the joyous 
shouts of the athletes were often to be heard. In the High- 
lands it was the general practice, when one chief visited 
another, for the retainers of both to meet in front of the castle 
or mansion and try conclusions with each other in feats re- 
quiring dexterity, strength or skill.. Sometimes the contest- 
ants waxed angry, and the tussle ended in hard knocks and 
bloodshed, but as a rule they were satisfied with peaceful 
victories. 

The out-door sports peculiar to Scotland are simple, natural 
and conducive to health and strength both of mind and body. 
They may be said to have had no particular origin, but, 
like Topsy, " just grow'd," and any attempt to improve upon 
them or to carry them into covered quarters has invariably 
ended in failure. I remember, a year or two ago, seeing in 
Barnum's ''Great Moral Show" a couple of really good 
Caledonian athletes, who, among the other attractions, gave 



SCOTTISH SPORTS. 1 63 

bogus contests at hitch-and-kick, pole-vaulting, and one or 
two others. It was the most tiresome exhibition in the whole 
programme, and the champions were allowed to drop out as 
soon as their term of engagement was completed. Now, 
hitch-and-kick is really a beautiful display of agility and 
power, and never fails to find admirers when it is honestly 
conducted in the open air. But in the glare of the gaslights, 
in the heated atmosphere of the circus, and amidst painted 
faces, spangled dresses and the boisterous excitement of the 
ring, it fell flat and dreary. Another great superiority of 
Scottish sports over those of many other nations lies in their 
inexpensiveness. The German athlete, for instance, has his 
costly turn-hall, fitted up with apparatus and contrivances of 
all sorts. The English athlete has his racquet-hall, his cricket- 
grounds, and his boating conveniences. T'he American ath- 
lete builds a more or less elaborate club-house, encloses 
costly grounds, and runs on carefully prepared cinder-paths 
which are maintained in good condition only by continual 
attention and at considerable expense. The Canadian la- 
crosse player also requires extensive grounds, and even the 
more democratic snow-shoer, .after he buys his shoes, gets 
rigged out in his uniform, pays his club's dues and responds 
regularly to assessments, finds his pleasure rather an expen- 
sive one. The Scotch athlete needs none of these extrava- 
gances. A boulder picked up from a field is as good an im- 
plement for putting as is the most carefully finished and 
smoothly rounded iron ball. A young tree, or a branch cut 
from an old monarch of the forest, serves for a caber, and 
any road is good enough for a running track. In fact, I 
often wonder whether our modern amateur athletes, with their 
expensively maintained and carefully prepared grounds, are 
real amateurs after all. It seems to me, in their case, athletics 
is as much a business as it can possibly be, and their language 
about the niceties of distance, their anxieties concerning 
records, their paid trainers and handlers, and the inevitable 
charge of gate money, go far to prove it. I have often seen a 
group of men in Scotland, real amateurs, throw a stone for 
a trifling wager. The distances they threw were not meas- 
ured, and I do not believe one of them cared a cent whether 
he threw his stone five feet or fifty feet, so long as he threw 
it further than did any of the others. This, of course, may be 
deemedavery primitive system, and so it is, but the true end 



164 ' SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

of amateur sports, that of increasing the manly vigor and 
strength of the human frame, is fully gained by it. In 
America amateur athleticism is carried too far. For, besides 
making the athletes really become professionals, it causes 
many to over-train themselves and so fall victims to disease. 
I have noticed in the vicinity of New York out-door sports 
indulged in on Thanksgiving day, when the young athletes, 
clad in their tights, appeared on their club grounds livid with 
cold and almost unable to speak. Surely there is no pleasure 
in this, nothing conducive to health, or even anything which 
tended to improve the athletic prowess of the trembling 
wretches who took part in the performances. 

That the simple sports of Scotland are endowed with many 
qualifications which tend to strengthen and develop the body 
is evident even to the most casual observer. Any one who 
has watched the athletes at play must have noticed how 
freely and richly the blood rises to their cheeks, how clear 
and sparkling are their eyes, and how regular and deep their 
respiration. Such games quicken the blood, making it 
course through the veins freely and actively, improve the 
muscles and strengthen the brains of those who practice 
them. Mere dexterity is not so much a necessity in Cale- 
donian sports as are strength and endurance, and hence we 
find that the Scots do not take very kindly to trapeze per- 
formances, cross-bar exploits or posturing. There is a 
certain degree of danger attending many of the Scottish 
games which imparts an additional interest to them, in some 
minds at least. I have seen more than one good athlete 
lamed for life by the snapping of the pole when at the very 
height of his vault ; the hammer has often been thrown right 
in the midst of a knot of spectators, fracturing a skull or 
dislocating an arm ; and the quoit, in the hands of a wild 
player, has sometimes caused a life. 

Such ordinary athletic sports as running, jumping and 
simple exercises of strength have naturally formed part of 
the social amusements of the Scottish people from the 
earliest period of their history, and so continue until now. 
The simpler the circumstances under which these sports are 
contested, the less they smack of the turn-halle; and the 
more completely they are devoid of implements or prepara- 
tion, the more closely do they approach the style in vogue 
in the days of auld lang syne. The absence of ** records," 



SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 1 65 

the most obnoxious feature of modern amateur athletics, 
that which has made them really professional and encourages 
betting, gambling and swindling of various sorts, kept these 
sports pure, clean and healthy, and made them alike popular 
among all classes in the community. 

Of what may be called the more aristocratic class of sports 
hunting was, and still is, the most esteemed. The immense 
forests which once covered the face of the country gave 
ample accommodation for animals, birds and all sorts of 
wild game, and the natural inclination of most of the peo- 
ple led them to engage in the chase with ardor and delight. 
Boars, wolves, foxes and deer were thick in the forests of 
the lowlands and midlands, as w^ell as in the glens and 
wooded hillsides of the Highlands ; while all sorts of birds, 
from the partridge, plover, blackcock and muircock even to 
the eagle itself, were seen all over the land. The rivers 
teemed with fish, and while rude nets of lythe were used to 
haul on shore such ordinary denizens of the loch or river as 
cod, saith or flounder, the sport reached its most exciting 
form in the spearing of the salmon, the royal fish of the 
country From very early tii;nes game in Scotland was 
more or less protected or <^ preserved." Sometimes a forest 
was preserved for the court; sometimes it was preserved by 
the monks, as was that of Drumsheugh, around Holyrood, 
after King David, in gratitude, the legend tells us, for his 
escape from being gored by a deer, gave it to the church. 
Sometimes it was " preserved " by statutes prohibiting par- 
ticular species being destroyed during certain seasons, and 
sometimes it was prohibited altogether in certain districts. 
The legislators of Scotland devoted great attention to the 
preservation of game, and indeed on the old statute books 
there are more laws protecting game than there are concern- 
ing the lives and property of the common people. This is 
accounted for by the fact that most of the legislators were 
land owners or dependants on land owners, and used their 
power to make their property as valuable as possible. The 
representatives of the burghs, who represented the people, did 
not concern themselves about what was of no seem ng interest 
to their constituents. When they awoke from this error, 
game, whether beast, bird or fish, in Scotland had become so 
hedged in and guarded by enactments and laws that it was 
almost a penal offence to look at any of them. Even at the 



1 66 ECOTTISH SPORTS. 

present day in Scotland, so powerful are the laws, it is a 
greater crime, legally, to kill or trap a pheasant than it is to 
steal a guinea. TJp to a very few years ago rabbits, hares 
and other ground vermin were as closely guarded as though 
they were the sacred animals of some Eastern potentate. 

The Scottish kings appear to have all, with one exception, 
been more or less enamored of the chase. I have already 
mentioned King David's legendary adventure in the forest 
of Drumsheugh which resulted in the foundation of the 
Abbey of Holyrood ; and similar instances of a love for 
hunting might be given of all his successors except James 
VI., whose constitutional infirmity rendered him averse to 
violent exercise or the sight of blood or firearms. The 
greatest hunter among all the Scottish kings, however, was 
Robert the Bruce. During his wanderings in the wilds of 
the country, when his fortunes were at the lowest ebb, he 
and his few followers had often to sustain themselves solely 
by the chase. In Barbour's " Bruce " we read of Sir James 
Douglas making gins to capture salmon, eels, trout and the 
like. The sound of the king's hunting horn was so well 
known that his followers knew its blast as well as the sound 
of his voice. 

" The king then blew his horn in hy, 
And gert the men, that wer him by, 
Hald thaim still, and all priwe, 
And syne again his horn blew he. 
James of Douglas heid him blaw, 
And at the last alsone gan knaw. 
And said, ' Sothly, yon is the king : 
I knaw lang quhill syne his blawing.' " 

After Bannockburn, when the independence of the king- 
dom was secured, Biuce continued to be as fond of hunting 
as he was in his younger days before the cares and troubles 
of his throne occupied his constant care. His dogs, falcons 
and horses were the most costly items in his household 
books. 

Hawking was another aristocratic sport, and it was 
fashionable among ladies as well as their cavaliers ; but, 
unlike hunting, its practice has been discontinued. It was 
a popular theme of the poets, and among the old ballad writers, 
as well as with the singers of a later day, the sport came in for 
considerable attention. It was a favorite pastime of Queen 
Mary, and that fact has thrown over it in Scotland the 
glamour of romance, such as surrounds everything con- 



SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS, 1 67 

nected w.th that beautiful woman. In his *' History of 
Scotland" Tytler thus describes a hawking scene: "We 
see the sun just rising upon a noble chase or park with 
breezy slopes and gentle undulations, variegated with 
majestic oaks, and getting wilder and more rugged as you 
approach the mountains that surround it. His level rays 
are glancing on the windows of a baron's castle and illumi- 
nating the massive gray walls till they look as if they were 
built of gold. By and by symptoms of busy preparation 
are seen ; horses are led into the court ; knights, squires and 
grooms are booting and mounting and talking of the com- 
ing sport ; the huntsmen and the falconer stand ready at the 
gate, and the ladies' palfreys, led by their pages, are waiting 
for their fair mistresses. At last, these gentle dames descend 
from their bower, and each, assisted by htr favorite knight, 
* lightly springs to selle ;' the aged baron himself is gravely 
mounted, and leads the way ; and the court of the castle 
rings with hoof and horn as the brilliant and joyous caval- 
cade cross the drawbridge and disperse themselves through 
the good greenwood." In the reign of David II., Scottish 
falcons were so highly esteemed- that they were exported to 
the Continent. The birds used by Queen Mary were taken 
from Craigleith, a high, perpendicular rock projecting from 
the brow of the Westhill of Alva. In the Western Islands 
the chiefs used to be proud of their eyries of these birds, 
and the attendant who looked after them on any estate 
ranked among the most important of the retainers and en- 
joyed many perquisites and favors. 

Archery was also a common enough spo^'t in the early 
times until it was driven into the background by firearms. The 
Scots were apparently well skilled in the use of the bow, but 
their weapons were shorter, and probably of inferior wood, 
to that terrible long bow which won so many victories for 
England in Scotland and on the Continent. Still, the Scottish 
archers did good service in the wars of Independence. 
James I., who served for a time with the English army in 
France and saw the deadly effect of the bow, devoted much 
attention to extending its use among his people. It was 
the subject of several laws passed by his parliaments, and at 
the yearly wapenshaws it was made to play a prominent 
part, all yeomen between the ages of sixteen and sixty being 
required to be provided with at least one bow and a sheaf of 



1 68 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

arrows. It was even attempted to make archery supersede 
football as an athletic pastime, although it is questionable 
if this attempt succeeded. But the bow never really became a 
common favorite, although its old connection with the coun- 
try is still kept up by the innocent and harmless exercises 
of the Royal Company of Archers at Edinburgh. 

The day of the Wapenshaw was the most popular festi- 
val of the old Scotch towns or villages. The occasion was 
a general holiday and the athletic sports were the principal 
amusements. Interesting details of these days may be 
found in such old poems as " Peebles to the Play," or 
*' Christ's Kirk on the Green," and Sir Walter Scott, in the 
*' Lady of the Lake " and his grand romance of '^Old Mor- 
tality," introduces the people's holiday at Wapenshaw times 
with fine effect and considerable detail. In the notes to 
the poem named Sir Walter says : " Every burgh in Scot- 
land of the least note, but more especially the considerable 
towns, had their solemn play or festival, where feats of arch- 
ery were exhibited and prizes distributed to those who ex- 
celled in wrestling, hurling the bar and other gymnastic 
exercises of the period.* * * The usual prize for the best 
shooter was a silver arrow." 

Wrestling, formerly one of the most frequently practised 
of all Scottish sports, has now fallen considerably into dis- 
repute. There are several reasons for this. The sport has 
been taken up by professional athletes, whose mock contests, 
arranged on platforms in theatres and music-halls, inspire con- 
tempt, and even when contested in the open air, as honestly as 
professional athletes can contest anything, it has degenerated 
into a mere struggle of brute force instead of an exhibition of 
combined skill, dexterity, practice and strength. Wrestling 
should never be attempted or encouraged except on the 
greensward. In the stuffy atmosphere of a theatre it is out 
of place. Another thing which has led to the downfall of 
this fine old sport is the gambling which has been introduced 
in connection with it. Wherever this vice has become 
associated with any Scottish game it has been allowed to 
fall into desuetude by the Scottish people. This may seem 
singular, but nevertheless it is true. In the olden times 
wrestling was a prime favorite among all classes, and was 
equally welcomed at the court as on the village haugh. 



SCOTTISH SPORTS. 1 69 

Thus Sir Walter Scott wrote of it in the *' Lady of the 
Lake ": 

*' Now clear the ring ! for, hand to hand, 
The manly wrestlers take their stand. 
Two o'er the rest superior rose 
And proud demanded mightier foes. 
Nor cal'ed in vain, for Douglas came. 
— For li(e is Hugh of Larbert lame; 
Scarce better John of Alloa's fare. 
Whom senseless home his comrades bear. 
Prize of the wrestling match, the King 
To Douglas gave a golden ring. " 

Football was another favorite sport at these gatherings, 
although it can hardly be described as being peculiar to the 
country, for it was and is equally popular in England. Grand 
matches used to be common between parishes, and the game, 
was made the theme of a spirited poem i^y the Rev. John 
Skinner, the author of " Tullochgorum." That poem, 
'' The Christmas ba'in at Monymusk," describes how the 
game was played at Aberdeenshire; and if the lines be truth- 
ful, as doubtless they are, football was apt to be as wild 
and dangerous a game in good old John Skinner's day as it 
often is in the present year of grace : 

" In Monymusk was never seen 
Sae mony well-best skins, 
O' a' the ba' men there was nane 

But had twa bleedy shins ; 
Wi' streinzit shouthers mony ane, 

Dree'd penance for their sins; 
An' what was warst, scowp'd hame their lane 
Maybe to hungry inns 
An' cauld that day. 

Throwing the hammer probably originated among the 
villagers who congregated round the smiddy after the close 
of the day's labor, in the delightful twilight hours which have 
done so much for Scotland. Putting the stone or tossing 
the caber are simple feats of strength ; quoiting or bowling, 
requiring a degree of skill as well as a modicum at least of 
muscle, are known in some form or other in many parts of 
the world, although they probably have attained their highest 
excellence in Scotland. 

The game of golf is one of the most ancient in Scotland. 
When it was first introduced is unknown, although in its 
simplest form of shinty * it was probably as old as the people 
themselves. The game received great impetus from the de- 
light which James VI. took in it, and his son, Charles L, was 



* Called in the Highlands " Camanachd," and in Ireland " bandy." 



J 70 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

also a lover of the sport. Indeed, he was engaged in it 
on Leith Links in 1641 when the intelligence reached him of 
the rebellion in Ireland, and he at once threw down his club 
and returned to Holyrood. Had he always been as energetic 
in his movements his end might have been different. His 
son, James II., also delighted in the game. Golfing is still a 
favorite in Scotland, and the links at St. Andrew, Edinburgh, 
Leith, Musselburgh, Prestwick, North Berwick, Gullane, 
Carnoustie and other places resound in the summer months 
with the jocund laughter of the players and the incessant 
** knacking " of the balls as they are driven to their holes. 
The pastime has crept into England, and in Canada several 
clubs have been established within the past year or so. It 
is too early yet to form an opinion as to whether it will 
really become generally popular in the Dominion — that 
paradise for out-of-door athletics — but there certainly is no 
reason why it should not. 

The game of curling is probably the most generally known 
among the sports which are regarded as peculiarly Scottish, 
and it appears to be winning its way into all the populated 
countries of the world wherever a good sheet of ice and a 
few Scottish instructors can be found. The Scottish in- 
structor is certainly needed, if we may judge by the follow- 
ing illustration of the manner in which the mysteries of the 
game are explained by the old hands to beginners : 
''Inexperienced member of a curling club (to venerable 
skip) — '' Mr. MacFergus, what's a pat-lid ? " Skip — " Weel, 
div ye see, ye gowk ! ye ding ye stane cannilie, but no sae 
feckly as tae hoggit. Nae haeflins fleg, nor jinkin turn, ye 
ken, but tentiely, that it aye gangs snooving and straught as 
an elder's walk, hogsnoutherin' amang the guards, till ye 
laiid on the verra tee. When ye've dun that, laddie, ye've 
med a pat-lid, and ye may bear the gree." Inexperienced 
member (somewhat piqued) — '' Thank you, Mr. MacFergus; 
no doubt the explanation is very accurate, but I think its 
lucidity would have been very much heightened if you had 
made it in English." Skip — " Tut, man, an ye'll be a 
curler ye maun faumeelyerize yersel' wi' the vernauckular." 

The game is played all over Scotland, and the Royal Cale- 
donian Curling Club, '*oor auld respecht mither," as it is 
affectionately called has on its roll over 600 clubs, some of 
which are in Russia, Newfoundland, New Zealand and 



SCOTTISH SPORTS. 17I 

''other foreign parts.'' The great annual match between 
the players on the north and south of the Forth and Clyde 
Canal has brought on the ice as many as 800 players in one 
day. 

On this side of the Atlantic the roarin' game, as it is 
fondly called by its devotees, first obtained a foothold in 
Canada, where the long, clear winters are peculiarly adapted 
for its practice and where the finest players in the world are 
to be found to-day. The Montreal Club was organized in 
1807. So far as I can trace, the oldest club in Ontario is that 
of Fergus, which was organized in 1834. In 1836 a club 
was formed in Toronto, a city which now contains more 
active players than any other in the world. Then the game 
slowly but surely spread all over the Dominion, until at 
present it is governed by three grand bodies owning a 
more or less close allegiance to the Royal Caledonian in 
Scotland, and bearing on their rolls about 150 clubs. In 
Ontario the players nearly all use granite ; in Quebec and 
the lower provinces iron is deemed better adapted for the 
climate. In Quebec, however, they are not very particular 
what they curl with, so long as they enjoy the game, and one 
club of fine players achieve their local victories with 
" stones " made of cheese-boxes filled w-ith rubble or soil. 

In the United States this game was only played in a quiet 
fashion until some tw^enty-five years ago, and it is probably 
due to the stone-cutters and stone-setters of New York that 
it obtained much of a hold on this side of the line at all. 
Droll stories are yet told of the trials, troubles and escapades 
of the pioneers of the game in New York, and, if we may judge 
by the fondness wnth w^hich such stories are told, we m.ay 
believe that the curling of those earlier days was even a 
more exciting and enjoyable sport than it is at present. 
New York has now eight active clubs, and the game has 
spread as far West as Wisconsin and Minnesota, where may be 
found as keen players as anywhere else. The number of 
matches played each year is steadily increasing with the 
number of players, and Americans are proving themselves to 
be as thorough experts as the most pronounced Scot. The 
Grand National Club the central organization in this 
country has 35 clubs affiliated with it. 

Curling is a sport which has everything to commend it, 
and is wholly without any of the drawbacks which are too 



172 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

often urged with justice against other out-door sports. It is 
free from such vices as gambling, betting or professionalism ; 
it is health-giving and invigorating, and equally adapted for 
the old and the young ; it is cheap, its implements cost 
little, and it requires no costly grounds or tracks for its full 
enjoyment ; it inspires friendliness, brotherhood and charity 
among its devotees, and teaches the value of a cool head, a 
steady hand, a clear eye and a cautious judgment. It 
teaches men to accept defeat gracefully and to wear the 
honors of victory modestly. It is thoroughly democratic in 
all its tendencies, and on the ice all men are equal, except 
that the best player is the best man. Its season is one when 
work is scarce with most of out-door toilers, and its practice 
keeps the hand and the frame ready to take up the struggle 
for existence with renewed activity whenever the opportunity 
offers. 

Surely these are advantages enough to commend a game 
to the kindliest sympathies of all who love sport for the sake 
of sport alone. But curling has still another advantage. It 
is almost the only athletic sport which has a literature of its 
own, and in this respect it is second only to angling among 
all pastimes. Volumes have been written concerning the 
game and its associations, and its praise has been sung in 
stirring, sometimes rollicking, often uncouth, but always 
kindly verse by countless poets. Its followers are never 
tired of speaking about it, telling of its ups and downs, its 
victories or defeats, its pleasures, and sometimes even its 
pathos. The players are a kindly set, fond of each other, 
and seem to be entirely free from any of the petty jealousies 
which so mar the pleasures of other athletic sports. For a 
man to be recognized as a keen curler, and, above all, as a 
good skip, is a certain recommendation to the good graces 
and kindly regards of other players no matter how excellent 
their own curling record may be, or how vastly superior 
their social status. The pla)^ers, are charitable, too, and 
many a "bow " of meal or bag of potatoes or barrel of flour 
are presented yearly to the deserving poor through the result 
of a game on the ice. Playing for such trophies is common, 
and is one of the best evidences which can be offered of the 
perfect innocence of the game and the leal, light, kindly 
hearts of the players. 

Scottish games have now become a feature in American 






SCOTTISH SPORTS. I 73 

life, and nearly every Caledonian club or society on the con- 
tinent makes one day in each year a sort of national holiday 
when the games can be practised in public as they are in the 
old country, and when the resident Scot can air to the fullest 
extent his national proclivities, prejudices, likes and dislikes. 
These national gatherings are generously thrown open to all 
comers at a charge of so much per head, and the sight is 
well worth seeing, for a glimpse of Scotsmen at play is not 
often to be got on this money-making, pushing, jolting and 
business-loving side of the globe. 

On the morning of the day appointed for their out-door 
games in any town, the Caledonians gather together at some 
central or convenient meeting place. This they call ''the 
gathering of the clans," and fancy that the meeting has 
something in it akin to an old-time rallying under Roderick 
Dhu or some other of Sir Walter Scott's personages. When 
all is ready they start forth on a parade which, to put it 
mildly, is a pretty severe test of endurance in itself. Fancy 
a tramp over rough cobblestones, broken, dirty pavements, 
and muddy crossings, with the sun darting down its fiercest 
rays and the thermometer disporting itself away up in the 
nineties in shady recesses. Imagine such a march lasting 
for a couple of hours up the steep and crooked streets of 
Albany, among the dusty thoroughfares of Philadelphia, or 
the wondrously entangled highways of old Boston, and it will 
be agreed that the parade ought to be regarded as one of the 
feats of the occasion, and be so acknowledged in the official 
programmes. 

When the travelled, foot-sore '' clans " reach the scene of 
the day's performances, no time is lost in making a begin- 
ning. As a general rule, four skilled clansmen at once 
make their appearance on a small platform in the centre of 
the enclosed arena, and to the music of a pair of bagpipes 
perform what is called a Scotch reel. This is supposed to 
be a relic of an old war dance which was in vogue in Cale- 
donia long before the Romans paid it the honor of a visit, 
and at a time when the natives were about as civilized as 
the Indians were on our frontier a century ago. The reel as 
it is danced at these games cannot be regarded as a very 
graceful arrangement, but it certainly makes up in vigor 
whatever it may lack in beauty. Its performers describe the 
figure eight in their movements. When the top and bottom 



174 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

of the figure are reached, each dancer goes through an inde- 
scribably wild and helpless pantomime with his hands, 
shuffles his feet with extraordinary agility, utters a loud 
"hough" or series of ''houghs," and then proceeds 
describing the figure. The reel lasts from four to ten min- 
utes, according to the age, agility and enthusiasm of the 
dancers, and is generally much applauded. 

To a stranger the appearance of the crowd which is around 
the arena or within the enclosure is in itself a treat. There 
is no mistaking the nationality of the great majority of the 
people. High cheek-bones, yellow or auburn hair, and pro- 
nounced physiognomies are the characteristics of nearly 
every grown man we meet. Many wear a Scotch cap, or 
its broad prototype or progenitor, the Balmoral, and a few 
extra-enthusiastic chaps are crowned with real Kilmarnocks, 
such as all genuine pictures of Tarn o' Shanter represent 
that ''bletherin' blusterin' blellum " as wearing. Now and 
again we run across some one with a nosegay of heather, an 
envied adornment brought over by some of the Glasgow 
steamers, and the great value of which lies in the fact that 
a few weeks before it was quietly and sweetly blooming on 
some hillside across the sea, in the " land of the heather " 
itself. In the early part of the day the Scottish spectator is 
somewhat solemn and sedate. He has not yet shaken off 
his every-day American feeling ; he has just paid for his 
ticket of admission and is determined to have his money's 
worth of sight-seeing. But as the day waxes older his dis- 
position appears to undergo a change ; his heart melts as he 
hears the rich old Doric of Burns and Scott from the lips of 
the more recent arrivals from the mother-land, and he too 
begins to use the good old-fashioned speech. He sees the 
guidwife attending to the bairns and expressing herself as 
his mother used to do in years long gone by. He sees a 
crony, or maybe two, and has a talk regarding his early 
struggles in Scotland and America. He forgets all about 
the changes which the advance of years and difference in 
scene have brought, and he wanders to and fro, greeting and 
being greeted openly, honestly and warmly. Perhaps as he 
gets roused up he essays a step or two of a reel or Sean 
Triws in some quiet corner for the edification of his com- 
panions, or tells long stories about how his father fought at 
Waterloo and his great-grandfather at Prestonpans, and 



SCOTTISH SPORTS. 175 

winds up the afternoon by singing, as loudly as he can, a 
verse or two of that most popular of all national songs, 
'< Auld Lang Syne." 

The ladies, too, enjoy the day in their own way every bit 
as much as their lords and masters. They like to see the 
athletic sports, and all Scotch lassies, young or old, delight in 
taking part in a reel or contra dance. One would almost 
award the prize for public dancing to these bonnie lassies 
with the red hue of health on their cheeks and the roguish 
twinkle in their merry eyes which have drawn so many gal- 
lant fellows like lambs into the haven or bedlam of matri- 
mony. There is no mock-modesty about these Scotch 
lassies. As they stand up in the inevitable reel they *' shake 
their fit," snap their fingers, and "hough" with as much 
vigor— perhaps with a little more — as their male companions, 
and when one dance is over they loudly express their impa- 
tience for the next. Then how homely and comfortable is 
the repast arrayed in some cozy nook by the thochtfu' 
guid-wife! How kindly she gathers her "cummers" around 
her and gossips away about this one and that one — about 
Mrs. So-and-So's guidman, LUcky Itherane's bairns, and 
prehaps denounces in scathing terms the American wife 
whom some unregenerated countryman has taken to his 
bosom. How she does make the youngsters eat, and oh ! 
how deftly she coaxes the head o' the hoose from time to 
time to fortify his inner man with substantial victuals 
lest the liquid viands should prove too much for his equili- 
brium. How her eyes sparkle as she sees so many weel- 
kent faces about her, and surveys the manly forms of her 
male friends as they pass hither and thither ! Her face is 
an index to her inmost thought, and that thought for the 
present is, " There's nae folk like oor ain folk." 

The most prominent personages in the crowd, however, 
are those in whom national sentiment is so strong that they 
have been persuaded to don the kilt and plaid. The wear- 
ers of this costume know well they are marked men, and 
they enjoy their prominence with no small amount of self- 
complacency. Some of them look as though their ambition 
was to pass for caricatures of the genuine article, and 
indulge in a swagger and assume an air of majesty and 
dignity which is far from being akin to their real nature. 
For the moment, too, their naturally peaceable proclivities 



i ;o SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

are changed, and they are imbued with a feeling of national 
sentiment as strong as that which burned in the bosom of Sir 
William Wallace, with a good deal of that of Robert de 
Bruce thrown in. Who it was that invented the Highland 
costume, as it now is fearfuU}^ and wonderfully made, does 
not seem to be exactly known. He was either careless or 
unconscious of the fame which might have been his. Some 
say the rig was designed by Murray, of the Edinburgh 
Theatre Royal, when the play of '' Rob Roy " was first pro- 
duced on its boards. Others aver that it is the invention of 
a Cockney tailor. The genuine Scot affirms that it is a 
bona fide relic of antiquity, handed down from father to son, 
and that its history can be traced by monuments, sculptured 
stones and manuscripts from the remotest eras until now. 
But all these theories are nonsensical. The dress as worn 
now is not in the least adapted for theatrical display ; there 
IS nothing about it which could be evolved from the inner 
consciousness of any tailor, Cockney or otherwise ; and as 
for the antiquity theory, it is safe to say that no old-time, 
warranted Highlandman would encumber himself with such 
a load of trappings and jewelry as is now considered 
necessary to constitute a full dress. Fancy a fellow flying 
over hills or down glens after Sassenachs or sheep with such 
encumbrances as sword, pistols, dirk, sgian dhub, cross and 
shoulder belts, cairngorm brooches, Lochaber axes, shield, 
and as many things more ! The Highland dress as depicted 
on early records is a primitive, sensible, and useful affair, 
and as difterent from the present circus arrangement as an 
ordinary coat of the sixteenth century is from the swallow- 
tail of the present day. Still the modern Scot believes in 
his ornaments and trappings. He calls his dress the ^' Garb 
of old Gaul," and swears it is the only real and original 
national costume, and we must profess to believe like him 
or arouse his wrath ; and the wrath of a man with a whole 
armory of claymores, dirks, and pistols at his side, and 
perhaps with " a wee drap in his e'e," is not to be rashly 
aroused. 

By far the most wonderful character to be met with at 
these gatherings is undoubtedly the piper. He furnishes 
the regular orthodox music for the occasion, and takes good ' 
care that his talents are not hidden under a bushel. He is 
the very embodiment of self, and the best example to be 



SCOTTISH SPORTS. l^"] 

found anywhere of one who walks through life with the 
satisfactory idea that he is the great I Am of all creation. 
He believes that he and his instrument reflect all the glories 
of Scotland, past, present, and to come. If he is more 
certain of one thing than another, it is that he is the prince 
of musicians, the only true musician in the world in fact, 
and he regards the claims of pianists, organists, cornettists, 
and particularly fiddlers, with supreme contempt. His 
music is the only genuine article, fresh from nature, 
heavenly in its tone, and equally qualified to inspire a man 
with love or endow him with the courage of a hero. His 
''grace notes " are the veritable quintessence of fine sounds, 
and as he swells out a pibroch or march he believes the 
grandest cathedral organ in existence to be little better than 
a tin whistle in comparison with his drones. Look at him 
while he marches across the greensward or stalks along the 
cinder-path. How jaunty his step, how distended his cheeks 
as he '' blaws " into the receptacle under his arm, and how 
daintily his fingers manipulate among the notes ! His eyes 
are half-shut in ecstasy. His mind is etherealized and h^s 
whole soul is in his tune. He is in the seventh heaven of 
delight, and woe be unto any unfortunate who .^tumbles 
across his path or obstructs his progress ! Then, as he 
finishes the melody, how deftly he allows the sound to 
languish away, and how elevated and self-conscious his gaze 
as he looks around for approving smiles ! In his 'own 
opinion he is the central figure of the day, the most 
thoroughly genuine, unadulterated specimen of Caledonia 
on the grounds. Without him the Scottish element would 
be shorn of its most prominent feature and the whole affair 
be little better than a sham. With this impression he 
charges a goodly price for his day's services, and gets it, 
too, for to the piper patriotism and pennies are always 
synonymous. 

But the day wears on with all its excitement and bustle, 
and noise and clatter. The programme of the games has 
been exhausted, the athletes are tired, some of them disgust- 
ed, and the ring is left open for all and sundry, for the 
lovers to parade in and the small boy to practise the 
exercises he has been gazing at during the day. When the 
shades of evening begin to fall the guidwife draws her 
bairns around her and packs up the inevitable basket. Her 



178 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

men-folk are secured from further wandering, and the piper 
gives a loud blast announcing that all is over. The home- 
ward way is soon taken up, and strains of " Auld Lang Syne," 
or "" Willie brew'd a peck o* maut," or " Sae will we yet " 
are heard at frequent intervals as the pleasure-seekers pass 
along. In a little while the place where the games were held 
is dark and lonely. The Scot has reached his comfortable 
home, laid aside his national trappings in their appropriate 
"■ kist," and, after a rambling talk over the events of the day, 
jumps into bed and dreams of heather hills, romantic 
castles, terrible battles, wonderful adventures, and bonnie 
lassies. Next morning he is a thorough American, smart, 
keen, logical, and far-seeing. His notions concerning 
''Nemo me impune lacessit " are laid away with the 
costume in the " kist" aforesaid, and until the next annual 
outing he is content to pay heed only to the national saying 
which advises him to ''gather the siller." 



ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMA- 
SONRY. 



DURING the eighteenth century Freemasonry had 
reached the very highest pinnacle of popularity in 
Scotland. Its growth had been slow. For many generations 
it had hardly obtained recognition, but year after year, 
especially since Good King Robert the Bruce had founded 
the Royal Order of Scotland at Kilwinning, it steadily 
gathered strength. At first both operative and speculative 
in reality, it bit by bit lost its practical qualities and became 
a purely speculative science. Except in one epoch, Freema- 
sonry, so far as I can learn., never mixed in any of the 
perpetual political troubles which enliven the pages of Scot- 
land's history. That epoch was the time of the Jacobites. 
Then, through the active agency of one man — the Chevalier 
Ramsay, a native of Ayr — an attempt was made in France 
to associate the Order with the exiled family. It failed of its 
main purpose, although the fanciful degrees and rites pro- 
pounded by Ramsay were received with genuine favor in 
France. Many thousands were initiated into the so-called 
" Scotch Rite " instituted and planned by him, and his work 
is still bearing active fruit even at the present day. 

The eighteenth century was in many ways peculiarly 
adapted for bringing to the front the very qualities which 
endears the Order to those whose names are enrolled on its 
records. It was a time of political restlessness when it was 
often dangerous for a man to freely speak his opinions for 
fear of cowans and eavesdroppers. A sentiment of uni- 
versal brotherhood was in the air, and men were looking 
for a new condition of things which might bind them more 
closely than ever into *' union and friendship." The old order 
of things was passing away when the affairs of the State were 
quietly left in the hands of a self-appointed few, and the 



l8o SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

people were regarded as mere ciphers, or as little better 
than hewers of wood and drawers of water. Men had 
come to realize the dignity of man, and groped in the dark 
blindly for some way to make that dignity lecognized. 
In the end of the century the French stumbled upon a plan 
so full of horror that the world even yet shrinks from the 
bare recital. Fortunately for Scotland, its struggle for polit- 
ical freedom did not plunge it into a similar sea of blood. 
But the unquiet which pervaded Europe had extended 
itself to Scotland and governed its history during the cen- 
tury, although the cool, practical common-sense of the people 
kept it within proper and governable bounds. But in Scot- 
land there were many local matters which impelled, in all 
classes of the people, a desire for change and fraternal 
action. The Act of Union had taken away the ancient par- 
liament of the kingdom; the nobility felt themselves reduced 
to the condition of mere provincial grandees, at least such 
of them as had not obtained a foothold at the English court. 
London had become the centre of government, and the 
change was too recent for people to become accommodated to 
it as they are new. The masses considered they were 
ignored, the educated classes felt as though they were 
merely provincials, the aristocrats too often assumed a 
degree of false dignity which generally led them into play- 
ing the parts of petty tyrants. The best of all the people 
desired something which might bind them closely together, 
allow them to meet in fraternal fellowship, strengthen one an- 
other in all the relations of life, and make friendship unalloy- 
ed, unselfish and pure. All these were offered to them by Free- 
masonry, and its offer was zealously and gladly seized. 
There was another reason which added to the popularity 
of the craft, and which unfortunately has to be told. 
It was pre-eminently a convivial age, and the reunion 
in the lodges of so many good, honest, congenial 
hearts made a social after-time in those days seem a 
necessity. When the craft passed from labor to refresh- 
ment, they made all the use of the latter stage which could 
be implied from its name, and often, after the serious busi- 
ness of the lodge was over, the choice spirits held merry- 
meetings which lasted long until after the '' wee short hour 
ayont the twal." That these meetings sometimes degener- 
ated into mere orgies there can be little doubt, and from 



ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRY. l8l 

them came the epithet of ''drucken Masons," which still 
arises in the minds of many good people in Scotland when 
the craft is discussed. Those who have studied the life of 
Robert Ferguson, Burns' "elder brother in the Muses," or 
read Chambers' '' Traditions of Edinburgh," know to what an 
extent convivial habits prevailed at that epoch; how every 
little coterie formed itself into a club ; and how judges, 
preachers, magistrates, lawyers, statesmen, as well as trades- 
men considered it no shame to be known as *' two or three 
bottle men," or to be so often drunk in public as well as m 
private that their dissipation created neither comment nor 
scandal. The age thought nothing of such indulgences ; 
nay, the opposite was the case, and a professed abstainer at 
that period in Edinburgh would have been regarded as a 
knave or a fool, or perhaps as both. Judging by the time, 
the drinking habits which were then associated with Free- 
masonry were merely a necessary incident, a condition of 
things which would certainly be an accompaniment of all 
gatherings of men. Fortunately the world has advanced 
since then, and in this, as in all other material things. Free- 
masonry has progressed in a corresponding degree. 

In the year 178T the Grand Master of Masons in Scotland 
was the Duke of Athol. In the fraternity, either holding 
office or as active members of the craft, were included, it 
seems to me, every man of mark in the country. Noble- 
men, county magnates, preachers, magistrates, teachers, 
farmers, and tradesmen of every degree were to be found in 
connection with lodge work, and, if we may judge from the 
records which have come down to us, all were enthusiastic 
seekers after light. In that year the Duke of Athol signed 
the charter which brought into Masonic affiliation the now 
prosperous and honored Grand Lodge of the State of New 
York. On the fourth of July in the same year Robert Burns 
was initiated in St. David's Lodge, Tarbolton. He was then 
in his twenty-second year. * ^ ■■ 

I do not wish to dwell upon the early life of Burns, or in j J J0 
fact upon any features of his career which are not incidental' f^ 
to my subject. But I must make an exception at this point, 
because I desire to correct two errors which seem to have 
established themselves in the minds of most of those who 
have written or spoken of Burns during recent years. It is 
the fashion to speak of the poet as though he were simply 



1 82 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

a peasant and at the best a superior ploughman. It is hardly 
correct to dub him by the first designation, for peasant, 
according to the common acceptation of that term, he never 
was. Neither is it right to regard him simply as a plough- 
man; for although he often held the plough and boasted of 
the independence which it afforded him, he was a ploughman 
only on his father's or his own holdings. He was a small 
farmer, but never either a simple ploughman or a peasant. 
I mention this not in any spirit derogatory to either peasants 
or ploughmen. God forbid ! I recognize the true nobility 
of toil too highly to spurn any occupation which is of prac- 
tical utility and by which a brother-man earns his bread. 
But there is no use, it seems to me, in giving these two 
classes the credit of having produced thib heaven-inspired 
poet, when the honor belongs to quite another class — a class 
which in peace or in war has supplied the brain and muscle 
of Scotland for centuries ; the real backbone of the country: 
the class of small working farmers, the <* douce guidmen 
who held their own ploughs," and from whose humble 
cottages have come forth sons who have graced the pulpit, 
the bar, and the academy, who have added to the mechanical 
genius and wealth of the country, and carried its banner — 
the blue cross of Saint Andrew — in triumph over all the 
world. 

It has become common, too, to speak of Burns as an 
uneducated man. This is another mistake. From his 
earliest years his education was very carefully attended to 
by his father — a veritable prince among Scotchmen — and 
we have the testimony on record of his old schoolmaster to 
prove to our satisfaction that his education was really of a 
superior order even for lads in his own station of life. A 
boy who at fourteen years of age has had the benefit of 
being trained by such a man as William Bnrness, who can 
read Shakespeare with pleasure and is interested by such 
ponderous tomes as Stackhouse's '' History of the Bible " 
and Ray's "Wisdom of God," would not be considered 
ignorant even in our own day. Besides, Burns could read 
French fairly well and gave it a more or less careful study, 
and had acquired such a knowledge of Latin as to be able in 
after-years to adorn his correspondence with a quotation or 
a sentence now and again when the humor seized him. 
Surely we cannot call a boy with all these acquirements 



ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRY. 1 83 

uneducated. And, again, Burns during his whole earthly 
career continued to be a close student of books as well as 
of men, and some time ago, in compiling from his letters and 
other sources a list of books which he actually read or had 
in his possession, I was much surprised at the variety, extent, 
and quality of his reading. To speak of Burns, therefore, 
as an uneducated man seems to me to be decidedly 
erroneous. 

On first being admitted into a lodge the candidate is 
directed to kneel in prayer. It is fitting, therefore, that, before 
describing Burns' Masonic career, we should enquire into 
his religious principles. I know he has been denounced 
as a scoffer, an irreligious libertine, and even as an atheist, 
but such charges have been made by persons who had no 
real knowledge of his character or sentiments, or who were 
so blinded by their own sense of self-righteousness as to see 
nothing which is good in others who are less demonstrative, 
perhaps, than they. But from his earliest boyhood until he 
passed away from this transitory scene in Dumfries, Burns 
was a firm believer in the supreme omnipotence and good- 
ness of the Deity, and a continual thinker on religious 
matters. A perusal of his correspondence amply confirms 
this. He was by no means orthodox in his views ; his 
thoughts often probed deep down into the mystery of things ; 
he caricatured with bitter pen the extravagances of those who 
sheltered their own weaknesses and shortcomings under the 
cloak of religion; he ridiculed much of the teachings and 
theological quarrels of his day ; he detested Calvinism ; he 
had doubts, like Milton and Newton, of the Divinity of 
Christ, but he was a firm believer in an everlasting, ever- 
living, wise, just, and merciful God. The Rev. Stopford A. 
Brooke, an eloquent English preacher, expresses himself on 
this point as follows: "All his religion came from the 
heart; and it drove him, when he thought of his poor people 
and their hard lives, and how beautiful they often were with 
natural feeling; when he thought how much they suffered 
and how much was due to them, to refer the origin of their 
good to God, and to leave the righting of their wrongs to 
God. He went further, and threw over the lives of the 
poor the light of God. Every one knows the scene in the 
' Cottar's Saturday Night ;' every one has felt how 
solemn and patriarchal it is, and how all the charming gossip 



184 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

and pleasant human fun and modest love which charm us 
in it are dignified by the worship of God that follows. But 
that poem must not be taken as representing the religious 
feeling of Burns; it is purposely made religious; and all we 
can truly say of Burns is that, whether as regards his own 
art, or when he speaks of the lives and love of the poor, he 
was one of those men who at the end of the last century 
claimed for men a universal Father in God, and vindicated 
the poor as His children." 

In the immortality of the soul, too, Burns was a believer. 
Sometimes he was oppressed with fears and doubts on the 
subject, as are all men who think upon it at one time or 
other in their lives ; sometimes he expressed these doubts 
rather freely, for, of all men who ever lived. Burns wore his 
heart upon his sleeve and allowed its actions to be seen by 
all who passed by ; but on the whole, in reading his works, 
we can come to no other conclusion than that he believed 
there was a hereafter, at which, in some way, rewards or 
punishments were to be meted out, when men would have to 
render their just account to the Grand Architect of the 
universe. But even on this point he had some peculiar 
notions. In a letter written in 1788 he said: "A man 
conscious of having acted an honest part among his fellow- 
creatures, even granting that he may have been the sport, 
at times, of passions and instincts, goes to a Great Unknown 
Being who could have no other end in giving him existence 
but to make him happy, who gave him those passions and 
instincts and well known their force." In the two grand 
religious requirements of the Order, belief in an ever-living 
and true God and the immortality of the soul, therefore, 
Robert Burns was perfectly sound and consistent, and af- 
firmed his faith in these dogmas with conscientious truth. 

St. David's Lodge worked under the old Kilwinning Lodge; 
that is to say, it formed one of a group of lodges in the west 
of Scotland which obtained their charters from the 
mother-lodge. It was by no means an irregular body ; for 
although the authority of the Grand Lodge of Scotland was 
then sufficiently strong to exert itself all over the country, 
the claims to regularity of the old lodge at Kilwinning, whose 
traditional records extended away back into the dim stages 
of Scottish as well as Masonic history, could hardly have been 
contemned. When the Grand Lodge of Scotland was organ- 



ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRY. 1 85 

ized in 1736, it was found that the records of Kilwinning 
Lodge had been destroyed by fire. The oldest records then 
remaining were those of St. Mary's Chapel, Edinburgh, 
which dated from 1598, and accordingly it was placed first 
on the roll of the Grand Lodge. This of course caused 
dissatisfaction in the west, and the Kilwinning Lodge with- 
drew, or rather held aloof, and fell back on its ancient rights 
and prerogatives as a mother-lodge, which it held long before 
modern Grand Lodges were invented. This condition of 
things continued until 1808, when the Kilwinning brethren 
surrendered whatever ancient rights and privileges they 
claimed, and were finally given precedence on the Grand 
Lodge roll under the title of Ancient or Mother Lodge of Kil- 
winning No. o. I mention this bit of history to show that al- 
though Burns' lodge — St. David's — did not hold its charter 
from the Grand Lodge of Scotland, it was a regular and duly 
constituted lodge and was fully recognized as such. St. 
David's had received its charter in 1773 and was an offshoot 
from St. James Lodge, which was organized two years earlier. 
When Burns was initiated in July, 1781, and passed and 
raised on ist October following, the fortunes of his mother- 
lodge were at a very low ebb. Jealousies and contentions 
had crept in among the brethren, all power of cohesion 
was gone, and neither work nor pleasure were experienced 
by the few who had held together and hoped for better times, 
for a change in the retrogressing state of the tide. -, Along 
with a few of the choice spirits, Burns left St. David's 
Lodge and re-established as a separate body the other lodge 
of St. James', which had in the meanwhile been in a con- 
ditions of inertia, without, however, having forfeited its 
charter. \This was in 1782, and from that time Burns' career 
as an active Mason may be said to have commenced. 

St. James' Lodge, thus recuscitated, soon became the 
Masonic centre of attraction at Tarbolton. Although for a 
long time resident in Irvine and other places, which caused 
him a good deal of walking to allow of his being present at 
the various communications, he was both regular in his 
attendance and enthusiastic in his devotion to all the duties 
of the craft. In the ritual, such as it was, he soon became 
an expert, and at the after-meetings — the time allotted to 
refreshments, and at what is now delicately called the " sym- 
posium " — after the lodge was closed, he soon became " the 



1 86 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

king o' a' the core." No one could set the table in a roar 
like Robert Burns with his brilliant flashes of wit, his ready 
repartee, or his impromptu speeches. All these he gradually 
became accomplished in after being but a short time among 
the '^ sons of light." Among the brethren he found men 
worthy of the d. splay of his talents, and they seemed to be 
able to draw out of hnn some sparks, at least, of that bril- 
liant fire of genius which burned within. It gave him his 
first introduction to the society of manhood, and these 
early meetings of the St. James' Lodge exerted an influence 
upon him which never lost its hold, and did more for mould- 
ing his mind into a frame fitted to produce the after-bursts 
of poetry and song than the world has ever been disposed 
to credit. And here I desire to draw particular attention 
to one point. Burns' enthusiasm for Masonry, and the 
associations into which it led him, have been blamed for 
forming those habits of open dissipation, that love of 
tavern revelry, which have been attributed to him. Even 
these have been exaggerated by the "uncoguid," or by 
modern writers who did not understand the social habits and 
manners of Scotland during the latter half of the eighteenth 
century. But that Masonry tarnished or undermined Burns' 
''resolutions of amendment" may safely be denied on no 
less truthful and competent an authority than his own much- 
loved brother, Gilbert. '< In Irvine," says Gilbert Burns, 
" Robert had contracted some acquaintances of a freer 
manner of thinking and living than he had been used to, 
whose society prepared him for overleaping the bounds of 
rigid virtue which had hitherto restrained him. During 
this period, also, he became a Freemason, which was his 
first introduction to the life of a boon companion. \>t, 
notwithstanding these circumstances, I do not recollect 
during the seven years we were at Lochlea, nor till towards 
the end of his commencing author — when his growing 
celebrity occasioned his being often in company — to have 
ever seen him intoxicated; nor was he at all given to 
drinking." 

In St. James' Lodge Burns made many worthy acquaint- 
ances and formed friendships of great importance. First 
and foremost of these was Gavin Hamilton, writer, Mauch- 
line — the truest friend and patron he ever had. His name 
is often mentioned in Burns' poetical and other writings, but 



ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRY. 187 

never except with the utmost respect, honor, and gratitude. 
In one place he fitly sums up his virtues by describing him 
as 

" The poor man's friend in need. 
The gentleman in word and deed," 

I do not think that Burns held any other man in the same 
respect that he held Gavin Hamilton, except his own peer- 
less father, William Burness. Another member was Dr. 
Mackenzie, who did good service to Burns when he intro- 
duced him to Professor Dugald Stewart. This gentleman 
married Miss Helen Miller, one of the "Belles of Mauch- 
line " whom the poet immortalized in a song. Mr. John 
Ballantyne, banker (and some time provost), Ayr, was 
another member, and his friendship for Burns was fraternal 
from first to last. When the bard was anxious to bring out 
a second edition of his works at Kilmarnock, Wilson, the 
printer, declined to risk the cost of the paper. Ballantyne, 
on hearing of the trouble, at once offered to advance what- 
ever sum was necessary, but recommended the poet to make 
Edinburgh, instead of Kilmarnock, the place of publication. 
As is well known, circumstances, caused Burns to fall in with 
this advice but rendered his friend's generosity unnecessary. 
It was through the efforts of Mr. Ballantyne that the New 
Bridge at Ayr was erected between 1786 and 1788, and to 
him Burns inscribed his grand poem of " The Brigs of Ayr." 
Another member, who appears to have been a particular 
crony of Burns, was John Rankine, a farme:-, a great wag 
and a prince of good fellows. To him Burns addressed a 
characteristic epistle beginning, 

"O rough, rude, ready-witted Rankine, 
The wale o' cocks for fun an' drinkin'." 

Kay Wood the tailor, Manson the publican, Wilson the 
schoolmaster, and Humphrey the argumentative man, were 
likewise members of St. James' Lodge. In such a mixed 
company, composed of men of really superior intelligence 
and some of them of really superior station, is it a wonder that 
the poet did not improve in mind and manners, that his 
knowledge of men and affairs was not increased, that his 
talent, or rather genius, was not developed? Burns found the 
lodge more congenial than any place else, and for a long 
time was most regular in his attendance at the different 
communications. We even find it stated that his enthusiasm 



1 88 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

was so great that he held lodge meetings in his farm at 
Mossgiel, which I take as meaning that he held Masonic 
schools there with the various young brethren and candi- 
dates, and among the latter was his brother, Gilbert, who on 
January 7, 1786, was initiated into the mysteries of the craft. 
Previous to that, on July 27, 1784, Burns was elevated to 
the position of deputy-master of his lodge, an office which 
caused him very often to preside at its meetings. It also 
made him more thoroughly acquainted with the visiting 
brethren of the highest degrees, one of whom, James Dal- 
rymple, of Orangefield, stood fraternally by him in one of 
the most critical months of his life. 

Early in 1786 Burns went to Kilmarnock for the purpose 
of bringing out the first edition of his poems, and at once 
began making himself at home with the brethren of St. 
John's Kiiwining Lodge there. As we can well imagine, he 
was received with enthusiasm, and formed a welcome addi- 
tion to the ranks of the craft. To the brethren of that 
lodge he addressed a song, his first contribution to Masonic 
literature worth mentioning: 

" Ye sons of old Killie, assembled by Willie,* 

To follow the noble vocation: 
Your thrifty old mother has scarce such another 

To sit in that honored station. 
I've little to say, but only to pray, 

As praying's the ton of your fashion; 
A prayer from the Muse you well may excuse 

'Tis seldom her favorite passion. 

'' Ye powers who preside o'er the wind and the tide, 

Who marked each element's border; 
Who formed this frame with beneficent aim, 

Whose sovereign statute is order ; 
Within this dear mansion may wayward contention 

Or withered envy ne'er enter. 
May secrecy round be the mystical bound, 

And brotherly love be the centre." 

While waiting at Kilmarnock an incident occurred in the 
life of the bard full of importance, unsatisfactory mystery, 
magnificent poetry and sad reflections, and upon which I 
would not enter were it not that by his own act he stamped 
it with his Masonic seal and challenges us to consider his 
own share in it from his standpoint as a Mason. I refer to 
the incident of which Highland Mary was the heroine. 

How or when Burns became acquainted with Mary Camp- 
bell is not known, but in all likelihood it was while she was act- 



* Major William Parker, of Airloss, Master of St. John's Lodge. 



ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRY. 1 89 

ing as a servant in thefamily of Gavin Hamilton at Mauchline. 
Whilst Burns was in the midst of his publication troubles, 
he had another and a still more serious cause for perplexity 
on his hands. He had courted her who afterwards became 
his wife, the Bonnie Jean of so many of his finest songs, and 
she had trusted him too implicitly. Just when his worldly 
affairs were at their darkest she told him that she was soon to 
become a mother, and, unable to do anything else, he gave 
her a letter acknowledging her as her wife — a document 
which, according to the law of Scotland as commonly under- 
stood, made them legally married. When her condition 
became such that she could no longer hide it from her own 
family, Jean informed her father and showed him her 
lover's letter. The old man appears to have been insane 
with anger. He tore the letter into shreds, upbraided his 
daughter for associating with such a blackguard as Burns, 
and threatened to clap him into jail. There is no doubt 
that Burns loved Jean Armour, even although she at first 
seemed to second her father's frantic efforts for vengeance. 
But when the time was at hand for Jean to become a mother, 
and when her father was trying 'to have him arrested. Burns 
fell head over ears in love with Mary Campbell. One Sun- 
day they met on the banks of the Ayr and solemnly plighted 
their troth to each other. Mary was sincere in her affection, 
so was Burns — at least the Bibles which he gave her on the 
occasion would lead us so to infer. They were inscribed with 
verses from the Scriptures enforcing fidelity, and signed by 
Burns with his name and his mark as a Royal Arch Mason. 
They parted at the stream. Mary went to Greenock en 
route to the West Highlands to inform her friends of her 
approaching marriage to Burns. While sojourning at Green- 
ock the girl sickened of a fever and died after a brief illness. 
Such is the story as commonly told by Burns himself and 
his biographers, but if we examine it, it presents many mcon- 
sistencies. By all writers, as well as by Burns hmiself, Mary 
is represented as a pure, high-minded girl, generous m her 
impulses, and the very perfection of innocence. Yet she 
must have known that the morals of Burns were not of the 
purest, and she must also have known all about his mtnnacy 
with Jean Arm.our and been fully aware of its result. She 
must also have learned of Burns' letter acknowledging Jean 
as his wife, and yet, if pure, innocent, generous, and noble- 



190 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

minded, how was it possible for her to accept him as her 
betrothed ? Again, the names and much of the writing on the 
Bibles given to Mary were afterwards partially obliterated 
by some one not in the habit of doing work requiring much 
delicacy of treatment. Now, it seems almost certain that 
these would not be removed by Mary's friends after her 
death. Why should they, since they were in every way 
honorable to her ? Besides, Scotch peasants never cared to 
efface anything written or printed which bore the name of 
the Deity. We are left, therefore, to assume that Mary her- 
self obliterated them, and to believe with Mr. Scott Douglas 
that Burns forgot all his vows as soon as she had passed 
from his sight, and that on learning this the poor creature 
effaced the names. Of Mary's part in the whole transaction, 
however, we can say nothing. She died and made no sign, 
and amongst all the gossip of the time nothing has sur- 
vived of a nature substantial enough to enable us to consider 
the incident from her point of view. As to' Burns, leaving 
aside the mystery with which he has chosen to invest the 
matter, and judging him simply by what he has told us and 
the events of his life at this time, his conduct was reprehen- 
sible in a marked degree. He must have known — if Mary 
was the pure, innocent girl he represented her to be — that 
he was only blasting her whole life; that he had no right to 
be paying her such attentions; and that in binding her 
love to him, as he did, with all the superstitious ceremonies 
so common then among the simple-minded peasantry, he was 
weaving a chain around her which death only could rend 
asunder. Judging him by his own record, when Mary went 
away from Ayrshire he turned to find other hearts to charm, 
and to bask in the sunshine of new smiles. When he learned 
of her untimely death, however, he was terribly affected, and 
the anniversary of that event, as it came round year after 
year, seems never to have been forgotten. He has immor- 
talized her in some of the most beautiful and affecting 
lyrics in the entire realm of Scottish poetry, but all the 
poetry which has been given to the world since it began will 
not compensate for the wanton breaking of one real human 
heart. 

Such is the story told by Burns and his biographers, and 
such are the sentiments to which it gives rise. But there is a 
great amount of mvstery and discrepancy about it which 






ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRY. I9I 

has neither been fathomed nor reconciled, and in all prob- 
ability never will. It is the only episode in Burns' life 
which he did not make perfectly clear to us, and why he 
should have so left it we are unable to understand. May be 
it is for the best that it remains in its present darkness. Of 
that we cannot judge. 

The now famous volume, of poems was published on July 
3 1 , 1 786 and the edition was soon disposed of. Burns appears to 
have cleared -£20 by the venture, and completed his arrange- 
ments for going to Jamaica, where he hoped to be far 
beyond the reach of the ire of old Armour, who still pur- 
sued him so closely that the bard had to " skulk " to enable 
him to elude the grasp of the officers of the law. But all 
this did not prevent his regular attendance at lodge meet- 
ings. The records show this conclusively, and also that, not- 
withstanding his load of private troubles, he was as bright 
and perfect a " worker" as ever. On one occasion he went 
to Tarbolton to bid farewell to the brethren there, and sung 
for them a song he had composed in view of the occasion, 
and which had appeared in his book. It was his grandest 
effort in Masonic composition,, and is as full of life and 
interest now as it was when he first committed it to paper : 

" Adieu ! a heart-warm, fond adieu ! 

Dear brothers of the mystic tie, 
Ye favored, ye enlightened few — 

Companions of my social joy ! 
Though I to foreign lands must hie 

Pursuing Fortune's sliddery ba', 
With melting heart and brimful eye 

I'll mind you still though far awa. 

" Oft have I met your social band 

And spent the cheerful, festive night ; 
Oft, honored with supreme command, 

> resided o'er the sons of light, 
And by that Hieroglyphic bright 

Which none but craftsmen ever saw, 
Strong mem'ry on my heart shall write 

Those happy scenes when far awa ! 

•' May freedom, harmony, and love 

Unite you in the grand design. 
Beneath the Omniscient Eye above, 

The glorious Architect divine ! 
That you may keep th' unerring line 

Still rising by the plummet's law, 
Till order bright completely shine, 

Shall be my pray'r when far awa. 

" And you farewell ! who<e merits claim 
Justly th.it highest badge to wear ; 
Heav'n bless your honor'd, noble name, 
To Masonry and Scotland dear ! 



ig2 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

A last request permit me here : 

When yearly ye assemble a'. 
One round, I ask it with a tear, 

To him, the bard that's far awa ! " 

The allusion in the last verse is to Major-General James 
Montgomery, Grand Master of St. James' Lodge. On 
October 16 Burns was elected an honorary member of 
St. John's Lodge, Kilmarnock. His chest was packed ready 
for Greenock, to the vessel on which his passage had been 
secured for Jamaica, when the encouraging letter from Dr. 
Blacklock reached his hands. In accordance with its advice 
he threw all his other projects aside ; he determined to pub- 
lish a new edition of his poems, and turned his footsteps 
towards Edinburgh in search of that encouragement which 
the good old blind poet so confidently predicted was in store 
for him. 

Burns arrived in Edinburgh on the 28th November, 1786, 
and at once hunted up an old Mauchline friend and brother 
Mason, John Richmond, and shared his room. On the 
same day he read an announcement in a newspaper that a 
procession of the Grand Lodge and subordinate lodges would 
take place on St. Andrew's Day, two days later, and, as 
usual, brethren from the country were invited to join in the 
parade. Burns doubtless saw the procession, if he did not 
take part in it, and noticed in its ranks many of the notables 
whom he had been acquainted with in Ayrshire. Among 
these were Mr. Dalrympie, of Orangefield, who was the first 
person of consequence to whom Burns introduced himself 
in the modern Athens, and who, as the poet wrote to Gavin 
Hamilton, proved a friend ''who sticketh closer than a 
brother." On December 7 a meeting of Canongate 
Kilwinning Lodge was held, into which Dalrympie passed 
Burns and introduced him to the master, the Hon. Henry 
Erskine. The lodge was then in the very height of its pros- 
perity and was regularly visited by all the illustrious men of 
the time in Scotland. The introduction to Harry Erskine, 
Dean of Faculty, was an important event to the poet, for it 
led to introductions to the Earl of Glencairn and the mem- 
bers of the Caledonian Hunt, or at least most of them. His 
presence in Canongate Kilwinning opened the doors of St. 
Luke's, St. Mary's Chapel, Journeymen Masons', and other 
lodges to the poet. He soon acquired a prominence among 
the fraternity in Edinburgh equal to that he had won in 



ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRV. 1^3 

Ayrshire, and his appearance in any lodge was welcomed 
with delight. Within a month he was hailed in St. Andrew's 
Lodge by Grand Master Charteris as "Caledonia's Bard" 
amidst multiplied honors and repeated acclamations. A 
month later he was admitted a member of Canongate 
Kilwinning, on motion of the Right Woishipful Master, Alex- 
ander Fergusson, of Craigdarroch. The month of January, 
1787, was a continued round of festivity with the poet ; 
theatre, dinner, suppers, balls, assemblies, and social 
parties of all kinds followed each other in profusion, and at 
them all the Ayrshire farmer was the leading lion. Free- 
masons from the country crowded into any lodge meeting 
at which he was expected to be present, for the honor of 
shaking him by the hand. Even on the streets he was 
recognized by the mxultitude, and wherever he went he was 
the centre of attraction. He was raised to the highest 
pinnacle of popular favor and social prominence by his own 
genius, but his Masonic connection was the immediate 
support v/hich enabled him to vault into such a position, 
and the craft stood behind him in all his progress during his 
first visit to the metropolis. Ailother peculiarity of Burns' 
Edinburgh reception was that few of those who paid him 
marked attention belonged to the Whig school of politics, 
which was also another characteristic of the majority of the 
active members of the fraternity. 

On March i, 1787, an unusually brilliant meeting of 
Canongate Kilwinning Lodge was held, and at an early period 
in the evening the master, Fergusson of Craigdarroch, con- 
ferred on Burns the title of Poet-Laureate of the lodge, 
and he was crowned with a wreath of evergreen. Hence 
came to be fulfilled the vision he had so well described, 
in which the Scottish Muse crowned his brow with laurel : 

" ' And wear thon this,' she solemn said, 
And bound the holly round my head ; 
The polish'd leaves and berries red 

Did rustling play, 
And like a passing thought she fled 
In light away." 

That night was probably, in Burns' own judgment, the 
climax of his career. Honored by his brother-Masons as 
no Mason of his time had been honored, publicly acknowl- 
edged as "Caledonia's Bard " and Poet-Laureate of his 
lodge, his new volume passing rapidly through the press with 



J 94 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

the most brilliant prospects of success, and petted and ca- 
ressed on every side, it was a grand position for a man to 
reach unaided by gentle birth or princely fortune; and that 
Burns retained his native modesty amid it all is, as has 
often been said, the most wonderful feature of the glowing 
story. 

Let us now see who were the friends Burns thus acquired in 
Edinburgh Masonic circles, and we will at once understand, 
if v/e have read the common narratives of his career in the 
capital, the important service they rendered to him during 
that memorable winter in the annals of Scottish literature. 
We will also be able to see that the magnificent reception he 
met with was owing to his Masonic connection, and to the 
enthusiasm which he had infused into the breasts of the 
'' sons of light," as well as to the kindly, fraternal feelings 
they entertained for one of their number who more than all 
other men seemed to be endowed with true manhood, and 
who had proclaimed, in words that sank deep into all hearts 
and lingered lovingly on every tongue, the dgnity of labor, 
the majesty of work. Highest in rank, Masonically, was 
Francis Charteris, Lord Elcho, the Grand Master. Then fol- 
lowed Lord Torphichen, a name which is associated with 
the history of Masonry from a very early period; Archibald 
Montgomery, Earl of Eglinton; James Cunningham, Earl 
of Glencairn — through whose influence the Caledonian Hunt 
became the patrons of the second edition of the poems; 
Patrick Miller of Dalswinton (who will ever be remembered 
in connection with the early history of steam navigation ; 
he was more than a mere sentimental admirer of the bard, 
for, after having met him in Canongate Kilwinning and learn- 
ing of his circumstances, he sent him anonymously a ten- 
pound note — a generous and timely gift ; he also afterwards 
offered Burns the choice of a farm at Dalswinton on his own 
terms, and the poet selected Ellisland— a true friend cer- 
tainly, worthy in every way of the couplet, in which Burns 
has enshrined his memory); Dalrymple of Orangefield has 
already been mentioned; Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, a 
famous Edinburgh banker, who would have been Lord 
Pitsligo had his forbears attended to their own business 
instead of marching out with Prince Charlie in the rebellion 
^^ 1745; James Burnet, Lord Monboddo, one of the Lords 
of Session, a zealous believer in what is now known as the 



ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRY. 1 95 

Darwinian theory long before Darwin was born, and one of 
the most curious characters which that cabinet of curiosities 
— the Edinburgh Court of Session— has furnished to the 
world ; Fletcher Norton, afterwards Speaker of the House 
of Commons, who filled the senior warden's chair when 
Burns was crowned ; Professor Dugald Stewart, the greatest 
of Scottish philosophers, who was chaplain of Kilwinning 
Lodge ; Francis Napier, Lord Napier, an officer who figured 
in the war of the American Revolution under General Bur- 
goyne ; William St. Clair, Earl of Rosslyn, in whose family 
the Grand Mastership of . Scotland was long hereditary. 
There were hundreds of lesser degree, including very many 
advocates and writers such as Alexander Cunningham and 
William Dundas. Any one who knows Edinburgh must be 
aware that such legal gentry form the real backbone of its 
society. The scholastic profession also was represented 
by its leading lights. Among these was William Nicol, one 
of the masters hi the High School, and, what is of infinitely 
more consequence now, one of the heroes of that grandest 
of all bacchanalian songs, 

" Willie brewed a peck o' maut." 

Allan Masterton, another of the heroes of the song, was 
also a teacher in the High School and a brother in the craft. 

Such were the leading men, so far as position and social 
standing were concerned, who met Burns in Masonic circles, 
and through whom he became the fashionable hero of the 
season. I'hey took, from the first, a warm personal interest 
in him, his poetry, and his fortunes. With such friends to 
give him a brotherly grip and to stand by him as brothers, 
is it a wonder that the most exclusive and refined houses in 
the metropolis were open to his visits, and that in the most 
fashionable parlors he was received with the honors usually 
awarded to distinguished strangers ? Certainly not. But the 
wonder is that he, so recently a petty farmer in a remote 
county, could at once take his place in such circles and 
hold his own against all comers— ministers, teachers, 
lawyers," soldiers, litterateurs, and men of the world— and 
that he charmed and fascinated the most aristocratic and 
refined dames with as much ease as he had won the hearts of 
the dairy-maids and farm lassies in his own native Coila. 

Let me here point out, however, that although the names 



196 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

mentioned mainly belong to those who form what is known 
as the upper crust of society, Canongate Kilwinning intro- 
duced the poet to multitudes in the lower walks of life. 
Masonry then as now did not much regard social distinctions. 
It has an aristocracy of its own, sufficient for itself, and as 
honorable and as ancient as any other which has ever been 
created. In the lodge, therefore. Burns met the meek as well 
as the mighty. Tom Neil, the undertaker ; Shon Dow, the 
town guardsman ; William Woods, the tragedian ; Peter 
Williamson,' the adventurer, whose career in this country 
and Scotland is one of the most interesting stories imagin- 
able, and many others whose names are still remembered in 
the gossip of old Edinburgh, enjoyed the poet's friendship 
and accorded him their tenderest fraternal regard. But I need 
not dwell upon them, for their evidence, although it proves 
the democracy of Masonry, is unnecessary to establish the 
point I desired to make — that Burns owed his introduction to 
Edinburgh society through the practical interest which was 
taken in him by his Masonic friends. 

The second edition of the poems appeared on April 21, 
1787, and was an immediate success. A week or two after 
its appearance the poet started off on a tour through the 
Border Land, the grand storehouse of Scottish legendary 
lore. It had of course been familiar to him through the 
ballad minstrelsy of his native district, and, like a true poet, 
he had long cherished a desire of seeing for himself such a 
river as the Tweed, and the land of chivalry, foray, battle, 
and mystery which lay on either side of it. The tour led 
him to Dunse, Coldstream, Kelso, Berwick, Jedburgh, 
Melrose, and adjacent places, as well as a short distance into 
England. Judging by the commonplace book which he 
kept during the journey, the scenes through which he 
passed do not seem at any time to have sent him into any 
very excited state of poetic rapture. He was everyv/here 
kindly received, visited many lodges along his route, (includ- 
ing that of St. Abb's at Eyemouth, where his companion. 
Bob Ainslie, was initiated into the Royal Arch), and mixed 
with the dignitaries and luminaries at each stopping place. 
In his commonplace book there are two entries, and only 
two, which claim our attention. At Dunse he was taken 
with a severe and sudden illness. It was in reality the first 
signal of warning that Ihe end was coming, and, although it 



ROBERT BURNS AND FREEMASONRY. 1 97 

was unheeded as soon as it had passed over, he seems to 
have had a presentiment of its importance. " I am taken," 
he wrote, '' extremely ill, with strong feverish symptoms, and 
take a servant of Mr. Hood's to watch me all night. Em- 
bittering remorse scares my fancy at the gloomy forebod- 
ings of death. I am determined to live for the future in 
such a manner as not to be scared at the approach of death. 
I am sure I could meet him with indifference but for the 
* something beyond the grave. ' " Soon after he witnessed 
a scene which also stirred him to the depths : ''I go with 
Mr. Hood to see a roup of an unfortunate farmer's stock. 
Rigid economy and decent industry ! do you preserve me 
from being the principal dramatis persona in such a scene 
of horror." Fine resolutions, good enough and complete 
enough, to have preserved Burns from the misery of the end 
which came in its own time. They were applicable to man- 
kind generally, like the moral texts which used to adorn the 
head-lines of the school copy-books, but they were not ap- 
plicable to Robert Burns. His mental and physical calibre 
alike forbade his being governed by economy, rigid or 
otherwise, or by industry at all plodding or regular, nor was 
his fear of a hereafter strong enough to impel him to walk 
through life a perfect paragon of all the virtues. Had he 
been so constituted he would never have attempted poetry. 
He might have plodded on, become a staid elder in the kirk, 
gathered an abundance of gear, had a respectable funeral, 
and those who inherited his possessions would have com- 
memorated his virtues on a neat tombstone. But w^ would 
have had no Robert Burns. By this time his gear would 
have been scattered, his virtues would have been forgotten 
or lost in the general maelstrom of time like the perfume of- 
a wayside rose, and his tombstone would be unreadable, if it 
had not all crumbled away. The man rnight have been 
benefited by following out the good resolutions, but the 
poet would have suftered. The truth is that every man in 
this world has, according to the old saying, to '' dree his 
weird." He has to " warsle through " and to contend with 
many obstacles which are beyond his ken. Burns could no 
more have settled down into the life of a " douce guid- 
man " than he could have flown, and it was well for Scot- 
land that such was the case. Ayrshire might have gained a 
praiseworthy farmer, learned in crops and soils, and rich in 



SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 



J 



flocks and herds, but the history of Scottish poetry would 
have been without its central figure, and Ayrshire, as also 
Dumfries-shire, been shorn of their grandest name — a name 
which has brought them more wealth, fame, and honor than 
all the warriors who have sprung from their people, or all 
the titled nonentities who have fattened on their soils. 

Burns, after the Border tour, returned to Ayrshire, which 
he soon after left for a short trip through the Highlands. 
Then he settled in Mauchline for a while, " a rhyming, 
Mason-making, raking, aimless, idle fellow," as he confesses. 
He was again ths leading Masonic light of the district, and 
Professor Dugald Stewart, who visited Ayrshire during the 
summer of 178/, thus refers to the poet: *' I was led by 
curiosity to attend for an hour or two a Mason lodge in 
Mauchline where Burns presided. He had occasion to 
make some short, unpremeditated compliments to different 
individuals, from whom he had no reason to expect a visit, 
and everything he said was happily conceived and favorably 
as well as fluently expressed. His manner of speaking in 
public had evidently the marks of practice in extempore 
elocutioji." A year later Burns had married Jean Armour and 
was settled on the farm of Ellisland, about six miles from 
Dumfries. On December 27, 1788, he was elected a mem- 
ber of St. Andrew's Lodge in that town. While at Ellisland, 
farming and gauging, we of course do not find that he mixed 
much in Masonic circles, and even after his final removal to 
Dumfries his attendance at lodge meetings appears to have 
been infrequent— six times in 1792, once in 1793, once in 
1794, and twice in 1796, the last recorded visit being on 
April 14 of that year, almost three months before he 
'* passed from the judgment of Dumfries and made his ap- 
peal to Time." 

Thus we have followed Burns' Masonic career, at least in 
its most salient outlines, from the time he was initiated at 
Tarbolton until, at Dumfries, he was finally summoned to 
the Grand Lodge, the Lodge of Perfection on High, where the 
Supreme Architect of the Universe presides. With the excep- 
tion of the Highland Mary incident — and that we may dis- 
miss from our consideration, as its records are so incomplete 
and inconsistent — the connection of Burns with Freemasonry 
is in every way honorable to himself and to the fraternity. It 
found him an obscure lad whistling at the plough. It folded 



ROBERT BURNS AND RREEMASONRY. 1 99 

him in its arms, and shaped his brain and flooded his mind 
with its grand teachings. It elected him, even when he was 
completely unknown outside of its own local circle, into one 
of its high places, and made him, what nature intended him 
to be, a ruler among men. It aroused his genius, directed 
his Muse, and more or less colored all his sentiments. It 
introduced him to society and to acquaintances and friends 
whom he never would have known but for its connection; it 
spread abroad his fame over all the land, it filled his purse 
as it never had been filled before, and enabled him, when he 
settled down as a farmer once more, to begin the struggle of 
life again with brighter prospects than ever. And what did 
Burns give in return for all these ? Little directly, so far as 
we are concerned. But in his time he was an enthusiastic 
worker, and in every way maintained the dignity of the 
craft. His own connection with it alone has given it an ad- 
ditional patent of nobility and certainly invested the craft in 
Scotland with a degree of kindly sentiment, a flavor of 
poetry, which it would not have had, had he never been 
initiated. It is true he did not write much Masonic poetry, 
but he proved the value of Masoiiry in the events of his own 
career, more clearly than though he had merely written in 
its praises. Of course we regret that his pen did not more 
frequently take up purely Masonic themes, for he would 
have placed the tenets of the profession and the character of 
its virtues before the world with a degree of clearness and 
beauty far beyond the power of any others who have writ 
ten upon them. The specimens he has left us prove this 
beyond a doubt. I have already quoted his farewell address 
to the Tarbolton brethren and his verses to the lodge in 
Kilmarnock, and scattered through his poems are many 
graceful allusions which fully illustrate his apt and correct 
use of Masonic symbols, ritual and teaching. This regret 
was also expressed by the late Robert Morris, of Kentucky, 
who wrote : '' How forcibly Burns could have written of the 
mallet, how sweetly of the trowel ! The Hour Glass — what 
lessons it would have yielded him! For the poetry of Free- 
masonry is the ofl'spring of the heart." 

At the same time we must remember that in Burns' best 
and most serious writings, in the highest flights of his genius, 
the spirit of Masonry is ever present, leading, directing, dic- 
tating, and inspiring. The three principal rounds of the 



200 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

ladder shown to every initiate, for instance, are well illus- 
trated : Faith, by ''The Cottar's Saturday Night;" Hope, 
by his ''Epistle to Lapraik ;" and Charity, if by nothing 
better, by his "Address to the Deil," where his charity is 
not even bounded by the bottomless pit. The principal 
tenets of Freemasonry have also their exemplifications in 
his works. How fully does his love for his brother man in- 
spire the lines of '^ Man v/as made to mourn;" how 
well the duty of relieving the distressed caused him to 
write of the wounded hare ! And his love of truth brought 
forth those terrible denunciations of hypocrisy, clothed in 
the mask of religion, which almost make our flesh creep as 
we read them. But, above all these, his Masonic training 
inspired him with that sense, not of the equality but of the 
brotherhood of man, which is the suvimum bonum, the grand 
end, of all true teaching, and the haven to which our foot- 
steps are going. This sense of brotherhood colored every- 
thing he wrote and filled him with the brightest anticipations, 
even as he looked at the human misery which lay around 
him and felt the bitter pangs which often coursed within his 
own breast. Even in the darkest of his moods he was filled 
with hope — hope for a better day ; hope for an era of kind- 
ness, love, purity, and a truer and better manhood than the 
world had ever seen; and that hope found expression in one 
of his songs, one which the world will never allow to die, 
one which will ever cheer workers on in the march of pro- 
gress, and whose grandest sentiment echoes the fondest 
aspirations of all true lovers of the human race :- 

" Then let us pray that come it may, 

As come it will, for a' that ; 
That sense and worth o'er a' the earth 

May bear the gree, and a' that. 
For a' that, and a' that. 

It's coming yet, for a that 
That man to man, the warld o'er, 

Shall brithers be for a' that." 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 



THE modern history of Scotland dates from the adoption 
of the treaty of Union. In fact, that historic document 
must be regarded as the central point in the entire history 
of the ancient kingdom, for as we read the records of the 
country's progress prior to 1707 in the light of its subse- 
quent story, we find that every event led up to some such 
treaty being drawn between Scotland and England, while the 
blessings and prosperity which have since attended both 
have been primarily due to its existence and influence 

So far as opinion in England was concerned, however, 
the idea of union was always associated with that of con- 
quest. Scotland was considered as simply a province some- 
what larger than Northumbria, and its geographical position 
as well as feudal ties and engagements, were adduced in 
support of the theory. It was long seen, although not often 
expressed, that England could not fully develop itself while 
on its northern frontier lay a brave, watchful, and ruthless 
enemy, in close alliance with France, and ready on every 
chance to cross the Tweed. The only way by which this na- 
tional weakness could be overcome was by crushing the spirit 
of the northern land and placing it under the control of the 
English Government, a conquered province. From a south- 
ern point of view, and in connection with this theory, no 
English sovereign showed more true statesmanship than did 
Edward I. — or " Edward Longshanks," as the Scots dubbed 
him. He appreciated the fact that it was absolutely nec- 
essary for the island to be under one head — to be one 
country; and to this end he mainly devoted his life. He 
crushed Wales relentlessly and trusted to accomplish as 
much by his energetic attention to the northern kingdom. 
More than once the problem seemed solved. But the delu- 
sion was always short-lived^ and when just about to enter the 



202 SCOTLAND AND 1 HE SCOTS. 

country for a last and grand effort the great king died — the 
most fortunate death which the history of Scotland records. 
Edward's assaults on Scotland, beyond the fact that wise 
statesmanship showed the necessity of the two countries be- 
ing united, had no plea for their justification. The old fables 
of homage and allegiance, the contemptible spirit shown by 
the nobility, the oaths of John Baliol, or the political neces- 
sities of the times, did not, even when taken together, form 
sufficient warrant for the forcible annexation of a sister 
nation. 

Edward's Scotch campaigns were characterized by exces- 
sive cruelty and destruction, and whenever a section of the 
country was in the power of his troops he ruled it with an 
iron hand. But there is every evidence that, after he had 
demonstrated his power to the people, he intended taking 
them into the English commonwealth on reasonably favor- 
able and honorable terms. This is the only really redeeming 
feature which the history of his Scotch campaigns presents 
to us, and proves him to have been more than merely a 
tyrannical and bloodthirsty conqueror. According to his 
arrangement, the country was to be governed by a lieutenant 
directly representing the monarch, with the advice and as- 
sistance of a council composed of the nobility and clergy. 
The two named estates were, of course, loyal to Edward at 
that epoch, and would have obeyed his behests or agreed 
only upon such legislation or enactments as would be inspired 
by him or which were certain to meet his approval. The 
immediate result of such an arrangement was certain to 
strengthen the personal power of the English king, but its 
weakest point was that if, in times to come, the nobility 
and clergy became more patriotic, they had the opportunity 
of weakening and harassing that power. However, it 
was a step in the direction of popular government, a certain 
amount of gain, although useless for the time. But Edward 
did more than this, for he gave Scotland a direct, although 
small, representation in the English Parliament. Four 
barons, four churchmen, and two members of the House of 
Commons were to form the Scotch contingent, and these 
ten deputies actually did attend one Parliament in London. 
One of the two members of the House of Commons represent- 
ed that part of Scotland which lay south of the firths of Forth 
and Clyde, while the other was supposed to be the mouth- 



THE treatv of Union. 203 

piece of all to the north of those estuaries. But the Scots 
did not take kindly to Edward's manifestations of good in- 
tentions. The reforms which came to them on the points of 
English arrows, and as the result of cowardice and selfish- 
ness on the part of their own national leaders, failed to gild 
or soften the yoke which the southern king had placed upon 
them, and another rebellion burst it asunder. Edward II. 
tried to complete his father's work, but the defeat at Bannock- 
burn settled the question so far as he was concerned. 
Edward III. essayed the role of his grandfather, but although 
he overrun part of the kingdom, crowned a Baliol, and 
accepted his allegiance, his efforts bore no lasting fruit and 
Scotland remained as free and as threatening as ever. After 
his time no serious attempt to subjugate the country by force 
of arms was made by England, but diplomacy did not aban- 
don the hope of accomplishing alone what it failed to do 
when assisted by the sword. The marriage of James IV. to 
Margaret Tudor was hailed as a forecast of a golden era of 
international peace and so it certainly proved, although not 
exactly as was expected ; for on sea as well as on land Scots- 
men carried on war with England, and the battle of Flodden 
was the last event in James'reign. But through this marriage 
the great-grandson of James IV. became the recognized heir 
to the English throne and ascended to it in 1603 as king 
over the whole island of Britain. 

In Scotland, until it became probable that King James VI. 
would be the successor of Queen Elizabeth, such a thing as 
a close political, indissoluble union was never thought about, 
or if it did enter the brains of some northern statesmen they 
took care never to give it expression. As conquest was the 
watchword on the southern side of the Tweed, so indepen- 
dence was the rallying cry on the north, and the heavier the 
blows of t'he English hammer the more stubborn and unyield- 
ing became the Scottish determination to maintain the 
national liberty. Commercial union, except to a very lim- 
ited extent, was never attempted, for the ancient alliance 
between Scotland and France interfered and hampered any 
efforts or negotiations in that direction. The Continent 
formed a better field for the buying and exchanging of mer- 
chandise than Scottish merchants could find in England, and, 
besides, the maintenance of close relations with the '*auld 



204 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

ally" was often necessary to prevent too unscrupulous ad- 
vances on the part of the auld enemy. 

When James VI. ascended the English throne and became 
James I. of Great Britain, the rejoicing in Scotland was 
great. A Scotsman, a descendant of Bruce, ruled over the 
English, and fulfilled the old prophecy about the old corona- 
tion stone of Scone, which had been carried to Westminster 
Abbey by Edward I. One of the versions of the prophecy 
was : 

" Wherever fate this stone may bring, 
There a Scotsmen shall be king," 

and so it proved. Then the long war was over, the danger 
of the country being devastated or the towns despoiled or 
burned by invading armies was at an end; the Borders were 
no longer to be a ''debatable land " where warlike weapons 
were oftener in use than agricultural implements, and where 
feud, foray, raid, assault, reiving, rueing, and quarreling made 
up the daily routine of life. It was thought that the whole 
of England lay at the feet of Scotland, and that the mercan- 
tile progress of the country was assured. With two such 
fields of operations as France and England, the prospects of 
the Scottish merchants seemed to be of the most glowing 
description. They would enjoy all the benefits of a com- 
plete union with England without losing one iota of their 
country's independence, or without political interference 
from the new ally, and the national vanity was gratified by 
seeing a Scottish king wielding the sceptre of Edward I. 
The union for which Longshanks fought had come to pass, 
but Scotland was the victor and had brought England into 
the fold. 

But it was a dream. The pleasant anticipations had 
really no foundation, and the discovery was made that two 
countries might have the same king without having their 
individual interests thereby amalgamated. Neither in Eng- 
land or Scotland could it be said that the king was the State, 
although James VI. and his successor foolishly believed 
that such was the case. In Scotland the first result of James' 
accession to the throne of England was the impoverishment 
of the country. Most of the nobility followed him in his 
progress to the South, the court was deserted, the adventur- 
ous spirits tried their luck in London, trade was dispersed, 
and instead of English gold flowing into Scotland ,the oppo- 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 205 

site was the case. Scottish merchants did not fare very well 
in the dealings they attempted with their new southern allies, 
and in every way possible the latter showed their contempt 
for their northern fellow-subjects. Scotland gained nothing 
from the good fortune of the king but peace, and was a 
loser in many essential points. Had James been a states- 
man instead of a conceited pedant, things might have been 
very different; but his notions, practice, and policy, seemed 
rather to separate the nations than to draw the bonds of fra- 
ternity and friendship around them. He affected to despise 
the Scottish people and joined readily in the laughter of his 
new courtiers at their poverty and ignorance, compared with 
the wealth and wisdom of London and other centres in 
England. 'Fhe poverty of the nobility of the North and 
their eagerness for choice positions in the court of the British 
Soloman were in marked contrast to the munificence of the 
Southern barons, while the subserviency of the Episcopal 
priesthood, as well as the semi-papal magnificence of the 
Episcopal ritual and churches, were more pleasing to the silly 
mind of the monarch than the cold, bleak kirks north of the 
Tweed, or the haranguings, disputations, criticisms, and 
fault-findings of the Presbyterian clei'gy. King James really 
did attempt in one way to unite both countries, but his base 
of operations, interfering with the religious liberty of the 
Scottish people, was wrong, and he adopted the old English 
theory of submission and conquest. He desired one form 
of religion to prevail over the entire island, and the form 
which found favor in his eyes was that which obtained in 
England and of which he was the supreme head. James 
had always been in favor of an Episcopal form of Church 
government, but when in 1592 the bishops and bishop rule 
were swept out of Scotland, and Presb3^terian polity was 
established, his sacred majesty, as he liked to be called, 
seemed to acquiesce in the arrangement. 

In 1606, however, after he was firmly seated on the Eng- 
lish throne, James got the Scottish Parliament to pass an act 
restoring the bishoprics, and three new bishops — Glasgow, 
Brechin and Galloway — were at once consecrated. From 
this act sprung the Covenanting movement, which made the 
relations between the countries as severely strained as ever, 
and gave to Scottish history many of its grander and nobler 
incidents, although it caused havoc and bloodshed all over 



2o6 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

the land. In the wars between Charles I. and his parlia- 
ments, Scotland bore her share, and the trickery of that un- 
fortunate king often led her into positions which her own 
devotion to the royal house of Stuart on the one hand, and 
her love of political liberty on the other, could not harmon- 
ize, much less justify. The people became divided between 
sentiment and duty, and the result of the division was that 
Cromwell completely overrun the country and reduced it 
to a greater degree of subjection than did any of the Plan- 
tagenets. Cromwell understood the requirements of a real 
union better than the divine-right rulers, and, after tranquil- 
izing the country by force, he put his statesmanlike ideas 
into practice. His scheme of union was ratified in 1654, and 
by it thirty members of the British Parliament were to be 
chosen in Scotland. Free trade was established between the 
two countries, and feudal dues and restrictions were abol- 
ished. Under his firm rule trade and commerce revived, 
public confidence in the stability of his government increased, 
civil wars and private broils were at an end, and the middle 
and lower classes were better off than they had been for sever- 
al generations. But, as usual, Scotland had to pay dearly for 
her ^' whustle." The taxation of the Protectorate was exces- 
sive — often as high as ^10,000 a month — and the presence 
of English soldiers and some English judges caused a feeling 
of humiliation to sadden the otherwise pleasant outlook. 
The restoration of Charles 11. dissipated all the good that 
the wise measures of Cromwell had inaugurated. The Nav- 
igation Act rescinded the free-trade privilege. Episcopacy was 
re-established, the Covenant persecution became bitter and 
cruel, and the '' Drunken Parliament " passed a law in 1662 
which forced 350 Presbyterian ministers to resign their 
charges rather than violate the dictates of their consciences. 
The Sanquhar " Declaration " of Richard Cameron and Don- 
ald Cargill, in which it was boldly stated that King Charles 
had forfeited the crown by his treachery, and that it was 
perfectly justifiable for anyone to kill him or his brother and 
heir-apparent, the Duke of York, expressed the views of the 
most extreme sect among the Covenanters as to the cause 
for the terrible condition of things under which the country 
suffered ; but all classes of the people were more or less dis- 
contented, except perhaps a few nincompoop noblemen and 
courtiers whose consciences were as weak and whose de- 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 207 

baiicheries were as disgusting as their divine-right master's. 
Under the misgovernment of Charles, the eiitente cordiale 
between the two countries was wiped out of existence, and 
such sanguinary encounters as Drumclog and Bothwell 
Bridge made the question of union become as visionary as 
it was in the days of James V. Charles' brother did not mend 
matters during the three years he was permitted to occupy 
the throne, and the Revolution of 1688 was hailed as a relief 
by the majority of the people of both countries. 

Under the guidance of Principal Carstaires the government 
of William and Mary commenced well in Scotland. Epis- 
copacy was again pulled down and what is known as the 
Revolution Settlement made Presbyterianism paramount 
north of the Tweed. William probably intended to give 
Scotland a good and generous administration in which jus- 
tice, peace and civil and religious liberty were to be the 
features. But the wild although brilliant campaign of 
Dundee showed him that the main hope for the security of 
his crown lay in England. His ignorance of the country 
caused his administration to be disgraced by many mistakes, 
of which the massacre of Glencpe was the most famous and 
most glaring, while his leaning towards England governed 
his conduct in connection with the Darien scheme. William 
and his advisers, however, saw that such a condition of ill- 
feeling could not long exist between the two countries with- 
out open warfare being the result, especially as James II. 
and his son were in France, ready to seize any emergency 
which pointed to restoration, and the question of a complete 
political and commercial union became a foremost topic in 
the court. Just as the English Parliament began seriously 
to consider the question King William died, March 8, 1701. 

The death of the king was not regarded as a calamity in 
Scotland. William had died from the effects of a fall from 
his horse, wnich stumbled on a mole-hill, and the innocent 
mole was toasted in Scotland very kindly by Whigs as well 
as Jacobites as *'tbe Hi tie gentleman in the black velvet 
coat " whose work had brought a Stuart again to the throne. 

But the accession of Queen Anne, although it pleased all 
parties, brought the question of union or no union home to 
both countries in a very direct and importunate fashion. 
The queen was childless, and on the happy settlement of 
the succession to the throne depended the future peace and 



2oS SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

prosperity of the island. Remembering the past, and es- 
pecially with the Darien fiasco foremost in contemporary 
history, the Scottish Estates determined to maintain their 
entire independence of England. In 1700, the year before 
William's death, the English Parliament passed an Act of 
Settlement, by which the crown, upon the death of Anne 
without heirs, was to go to the Princess Sophia, Electress- 
Dowager of Hanover, and her heirs. It was expected that 
the Scottish Estates would follow the example of the South- 
ern Parliament and pass a similar law, seeing that the 
electress wr.s the direct descendant of James VI., and that 
thus the crowns would remain united and peace continue to 
prevail. But neither the Scottish Estates nor the Scottish 
people were willing to follow the English lead in this im- 
portant matter, and, instead of an Act of Settlement, an Act 
of Security was passed. This enactment provided that 
should Anne die without leaving any children, the whole 
power of the crown was to be centered in the Scottish Parlia- 
ment until it had chosen a successor to her, and the said 
successor was to be of the royal line and of the Protestant 
religion. The new sovereign was to rule only under such 
conditions as would preserve the independence of the 
crown and the nation from any English or other foreign 
intrigues or machinations, and was not to be permitted to 
wear the crowns of the two countries unless the Scots were 
to have equal trading and navigation privileges with Eng- 
land. The act also made provision for the raising of an 
army of such size as to make its requirements be respected 
whenever occasion should arise. This act was favorably 
received by all sections of the community, and a general 
sentiment in favor of entire separation from England was 
openly expressed unless entire commercial equality was to 
prevail between the countries. In the South the act was 
regarded in the light of a defiance, and such it certainly 
was, and several enactments of the English Parliament 
tended to widen the breach between the peoples. An 
inopportune incident also happened just at that critical 
juncture which might have resulted in absolute separation, had 
not the queen's advisers acted with a degree of shrewdness 
which Englishmen had seldom if ever before shown in 
connection with Scotch affairs. 

The Scotch ship An?iandale, which was lying in the 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 20g 

Thames ready to start on a trading voyage to India, was 
seized in 1704 by the English East India Company, as the 
latter did not care to have Scottish merchants interfering 
with the trade of a country which they held in monopoly. 
The act aroused much indignation in Scotland, and was 
taken as an evidence that the English would not permit 
Northern traders to have equal commercial rights with them 
even in territories subject to the common sovereign, and 
made the idea of any union or surrender of rights be further 
away than ever. Soon after a chance for reprisal offered itself 
when the English vessel IVorces/er, another India trader, 
was forced into the Forth by stress of weather. The vessel 
was seized, and, from some remarks made when in liquor by 
one of the crew, it was soon believed that they had been con- 
cerned in the murder of the captain and crew of one of thie 
Darien vessels which was missing. Captain Thomas Green, 
of the Worcester, his mate and crew, fifteen men in all, were 
arrested and tried before the Court of Admiralty in Edin- 
burgh for their lives. Popular feeling ran high against 
them, and the facts that the JVorcesfer was better armed 
than was usual with vessels of her class, and that among her 
papers a cipher was found, made it clear to the agitated 
minds of the people that the ship was a pirate instead of a 
trader. When the trial came off it was found that there 
was really no evidence against Captain Green, and had his 
crew not contained several cowards it is questionable if the 
court would have convicted any one. But one negro testi- 
fied that the JVorcesfer on the Coromandel coast had boarded 
and captured a vessel bearing a red flag and manned by 
people speaking the English language. They threw the 
crew overboard and sold the ship and cargo. Hearsay evi- 
dence was given by another negro and by the ship's surgeon, 
the supercargo's mate, the ship's cooper, and a seaman, and 
a local witness testified that Captain Green had shown him 
a seal having the arms of the Scottish African and Indian 
Company. The entire evidence was of the most flimsy de- 
scription, but the jury turned every surmise into a fact and 
answered the popular clamor for the blood of the prisoners 
by bringing in a verdict finding them all guilty. A dispo- 
sition was shown in several quarters to obtain a reprieve from 
the crown for the condemned, but the very suggestion 
aroused the populace to frenzy and the effort was not 



2IO SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

persisted in. In April, 1705, Captain Green, his mate, and 
a gunner were conveyed to Leith amidst the curses of the 
people and executed. This consummation seemed to allay 
the popular wrath, and no effort was made to bring about 
the execution of the others. 

Of course all this aroused a strong feeling in England, 
but it showed the statesmen on both sides of the Tweed the 
necessity for a complete union, and that such a union could 
only be accomplished by concessions from both parties. 
The English wished to retain their colonial and continental 
trade ; the Scotch were determined to retain their own laws 
and their own independence. To illustrate the condition of 
affairs by a modern example, the Scots were in favor of 
commercial union, the English favored annexation pure 
and simple. To harmonize these diverse interests was the 
task of the hour, and, hurried on by the events connected 
with the fate of Captain Green, Queen Anne and her 
ministry, headed by Godolphin, essayed to solve it. The 
entire matter was referred to a body of English and Scotch 
commissioners selected by the queen's advisers, care being 
taken to appoint only those who were known to be in favor 
of a close union between the countries. 

Into the details of the negotiations and discussions be- 
tween the commissioners there is no need of entering 
here, and a Scotsman could hardly chronicle them without 
a feeling of shame. No matter how much the treaty may 
have benefited Scotland, there is no doubt that the Scotch 
commissioners agreed to many of its provisions- after being 
lil:)erally bribed by the English, and gold and fair promises 
of future honors and promotions caused a majority of the 
Scottish Estates to ratify the treaty. The nobility of Scot- 
land in the reign of Queen Anne were just as ready to sell 
their country as were their predecessors in the time of 
Wallace and at other critical epochs in the history of the 
land. Of course there were honorable exceptions — such as 
Lord Belhaven— whose speech against the union was a noble 
and unanswerable piece of eloquence, although Lord 
Marchmont, with a l3ribe of ^1,104 in his pocket, pro- 
nounced it a dream — but the exceptions were not numer- 
ous enough to save the roll of the Scottish peerage as a 
whole from being branded as infamous. The only section 
of the community which came out of the negotiations with 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 211 

any degree of honor was the Church, and at its behest an act 
for securing Presbyterianism in the land was passed and ap- 
pended to the treaty. The entire union measure, however, 
was received with the utmost abhorrence by the people. Riots 
in Glasgow, Edinburgh and elsewhere made many tremble 
lest the populace would overrule the law and overturn the 
government unless military measures were resorted to, and 
many of the leading advocates and signers of the treaty had 
to resort to flight or concealment to protect their lives. The 
following lines by Burns, probably based upon an earlier 
poem, fairly express the sentiments entertained in Scot- 
land regarding the treaty and its advocates : 

" Fareweel to a' ou Scottish fame, 

Fareweel our ancient glory ; 
Fareweel e'en to the Scottish name, 

Sae fam'd in martial story. 
Now Sark runs o'er the Solway sands, 

And Tweed runs to the ocean, 
To mark where England's province stands — 

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation. 

*' What force or guile could not subdue 

Through many warlike ages, 
Is wrought now by a coward few 

For hirehng traitors' wages. 
The English steel we could disdain, 

Secure in valor's station, 
But English gold has been our bane — 

fcuch a parcel of rogues in a nation. 

" O would, or I had seen the day 

That treason thus could sell us, 
My auld grey head had lain in clay 

Wi' Bruce an' loyal Wallace. 
But pith, and power, till my last hour 

I'll make this declaration. 
We're bought and sold for English gold — 

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation." 

The treaty itself, which, with the rider referring to the 
Church, is here given in full, is deserving of careful study 
at the present day, when the air is full of -rumors as to 
political changes, and when the development of home-rule 
theories and the evident growth of a sentiment in favor of 
imperial confederation may lead to movements or encourage 
legislation in which what is left of the distinct nationality of 
Scotland may be swept away or be still further obscured. In 
the notes I have endeavored briefly to throw light upon vari- 
ous provisions of the treaty, and incidentally to illustrate 
the cowardice and knavery of the Scotch commissioners : 



212 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

ACT Ratifying and Approving the Treaty of the 

Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England. 

January i6, 1707. 

The Estates of Parliament considering that articles of 
Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England were 
agreed on the 22d of July 1706 years, by the commissioners 
nominated on behalf of this kingdom, under Her Majesty's 
Great Seal of Scotland, bearing date the 27th of February 
last past, in pursuance of the fourth Act of the third Session 
of this Parliament, and the commissioners nominated on 
behalf of the kingdom of England, under Her Majesty's 
Great Seal of England, bearing date at Westminster the 
loth day of April last past, in pursuance of an Act of Parlia- 
ment made in England the third year of Her Majesty's 
reign, to treat of and concerning a union of the said king- 
doms ; which articles were, in all humility, presented to 
Her Majesty upon the 23d of the said month of July, and 
• were recommended to this Parliament by Her Majesty's 
royal letter of the date the 3TSt day of July, 1706 ; and 
that the said Estates of Parliament have agreed to, and 
approven of the said Articles of Union, with some ad- 
ditions and explanations, as is contained in the articles 
hereafter insert. And sick-like. Her Majesty, with advice 
and consent of the Estates of Parliament, resolving to es- 
tablish the Protestant religion and Presbyterian Church 
government within this kingdom, has passed in this Session 
of Parliament an Act, entituled, ' Act for securing of the 
Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government,' 
which, by the tenor thereof, is appointed to be insert in any 
Act ratifying the Treaty, and expressly declared to be a 
fundamental and essential condition of the said Treaty of 
Union in all time coming. Therefore Her Majesty, with 
advice and consent of the Estates of Parliament, in fortifi- 
cation of the approbation of the articles as above mentioned, 
and for their further and better establishment of the same, 
upon full and mature deliberation upon the foresaid Articles 
of Union and Act of Parliament, doth ratify, approve, and 
confirm the same, with the additions and explanations con- 
tained in the said articles, in manner, and under the pro- 
visions after mentioned, whereof the tenor follows : 

I. That the two kingdoms of Scotland and England 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 213 

shall, upon the ist day of May next ensuing the date 
hereof, and for ever after, be united into one kingdom by 
the name of Great Britain,* and that the ensigns armorial 
of the said United Kingdom be such as Her Majesty shall 
appoint, and the crosses of St. Andrew and St. George be 
conjoined in such manner as Her Majesty shall think fit,f 
and used in all flags, banners, standards and ensigns, both at 
sea and land. 

n. That the succession to the monarchy of the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain, and of the dominions thereunto 
beloliging, after Her Most Sacred Majesty, and in default 
of issue of Her Majesty, be, remain, and continue to the 
most Excellent Princess Sophia, Electoress and Duchess 
Dowager of Hanover, and the heirs of her body, bemg 
Protestants, upon whom the crown of England is settled by 
an' Act of Parliament made in England in the twelfth year 
of the reign of His late Majesty King William HI., enti- 
tuled, " An Act for the further Limitation of the Crown, and 
better securing the Rights and Liberties of the Subject : " 
And that all Papists, and persons marrying Papists, shall be 
excluded from, and for ever incapable to inherit, possess, or 
enjoy the Imperial Crown of Great Britain, and the domm- 
ions thereunto belonging, or any part thereof, and in every 
such case the Crown and Government shall, from time to time, 
descend to, and be enjoyed by such person, being a Protes- 
tant, as should have inherited and enjoyed the same in case 
such Papist, or person marrying a Papist, was naturally dead, 
according to the provision for the descent of the Crown of 
England, made by another Act of Parliament in England in 
the first year of the reign of their late Majesties King 



* This clause in the treaty, it is claimed by the Scot--, has virtually become a dead 
letter, as far at least as the English are concerned. Everything is " English.' ^^ot- 
land IS ignored and Great Britain is seldom talked about. " The English Parlia- 
ment,"*' the English army " are the usual terms in which the British House of 
Commons and British soldiers are mentioned. This has naturally aroused much 
indignation in Scotland, and public protests on the platform and the press are fre- 
quent. There is no doubt that there is good ground for complaint, but candor 
compels me to acknowledge that the Scots arc equally great sinners in this regard . It 
aScotbiComes famous either in the army, the navy, literature, science or art, the 
Scottish newspapers and public speakers do not call him a Briton, but glory in the 
fact that he is a Scot. The best result of the agi'ation on this theme is to keep alive 
a popular knowledge on both sides of the Tweed that the Treaty of Union between 
the two kingdoms reallv - xists. The name Great Britain— or " Great Brittany ' 
rather— was first pmposel by James VI, after his accession to the English throne 

t This was suggested by the Scots commissioners as being the readiest way of 
settling a matter which, although trivial in itself, might have caysed considerable 
trouble. 



214 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 



William and Queen Mary, entituled '' An Act declaring the 
Rights and Liberties of the Subject, and settling the Succes- 
sion of the Crown." 

III. That the United Kingdom of Great Britain be repre- 
sented by one and the same Parliament, to be styled the 
Parliament of Great Britain."^ 

IV. That all the subjects of the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain shall, from and after the Union, have full free- 
dom and intercourse of trade and navigation, to and from 
any port or place within the said United Kingdom, and the 
dominions and plantations thereunto belonging, and that 
there be a communication of all other rights, privileges, and 
advantages which do or may belong to the subjects of either 
kingdom, except where it is otherwise expressly agreed in 
these articles. 

V. That all ships or vessels belonging to Her Majesty's 
subjects of Scotland, at the time of ratifying the Treaty 
of Union of the two kingdoms in the Parliament of Scot- 
land, though foreign built, be deemed and pass as ships 
of the build of Great Britain. The owner, or, where there 
are more owners, one or more of the owners, within 
twelve months after the ist of May next, making oath 
that at the time of ratifying the Treaty of Union in the 
Parliament of Scotland, the same did, in whole or in part, 
belong to him or them, or to some other subject or sub- 
jects of Scotland, to be particularly named, with the 
place of their respective abodes, and that the same doth 
then, at the time of the said deposition, wholly belong to 
him or them, and that no foreigner, directly or indirectly, 
hath any share, part, or interest therein ; which oath 
shall be made before the chief officer or officers of the 
customs, in the port next to the abode of the said owner 



■ 

he jl 

iS- « 



* The adoption of this article, did away with an office - that of Lord Chancellor of 
Scotland -which had existed since the time of Alexander I., and had been held by 
many of the brightest men in tne cuntry. The Lord Chancellor presided over the 
Scottish Parliament was the head of the judicial system, the chief adviser of the 
King and keeper of the great seal. The Lord Chancellor at the time the treaty was 
passed was the Earl of Seafield. He was a zealou*^ advnca'e in its favor, and gladly 
accepted his share of the plunder which was distributed among noblemen of his 
stamp On April 22, 1707. when the Scottish Parliament broke up for the last time, 
Seafield, in his glee at the fulfillment of a work in which he took such a prominent 
part, said with trim humour, " There is the end of an auld sang." A brother of this 
noble scoundrel charactc-ized his conduct at the time in fitting terms. Seafield had 
objected to his brother trading in cattle as being derogatory to the family rank. 
*' Take your own tale hame," said the brother ; " I only sell nowt (cattle), but you seU 

nations," 



THE TREATY OF UNION. .21 5 

or owners ; and the said officer or officers shall 1 e 
empowered to administer the said oath ; and the said 
oath, being so administered, shall be attested by the 
officer or officers who administered the same, and, being- 
registered by the said officer or officers, shall be delivered 
to the master of the ship for security of her navigation, 
and a duplicate thereof shall be transmitted by the said 
officer or officers to the chief officer or officers of the 
customs in the Port of Edinburgh, to be there entered in 
a register, and from thence to be sent to the Port of 
London, to be there entered in the general register of 
all trading ships belonging to Great Britain. 

VI. That all parts ot" the United Kingdom forever, 
from and after the Union, shall have the same allow- 
ances, encouragements, and drawbacks, and be under 
the same prohibitions, restrictions, and regulations of 
trade, and liable to the same customs and duties on im- 
port and export ; and that the allowances, encourage- 
ments, and drawbacks, prohibitions, restrictions, and 
regulations of trade, and the customs and duties on im- 
port and export settled in England, when the Union 
commences, shall, from and after the Union, take place 
throughout the whole United Kingdom,* excepting and 
reserving the duties upon export and import of such par- 
ticular commodities from which any persons, the subjects 
of either kingdom, are specially liberated and exempted 
by their private rights, which after the Union are to 
remain safe and entire to them, in all respects, as before 
the same ; and that, from and after the Union, no Scots 
cattle carried into England shall be liable to any other 
duties, either on the public or private accounts, than 
these duties to which the cattle of England are or shall be 
liable within the said kingdom. And seeing, by the laws 
of England, there are rewards granted upon the exporta- 
tion of certain kinds of grain, wherein oats, grinded or 
ungrinded, are not expressed, That from and after the 
Union, when oats shall be sold at 15s. sterling per quarter 



* This clause was bitterly opposed by Scottish merchants, who thought it involved 
the ruin of their own trade with the Continent, as it b- ought t^' m to a level with the 
competition o' Southern traders. They did not see the use of havnf free trade with 
England while 1 heir own foreign trade was to be imperilled by res'.ric'ions, regu a 
tjonsai.d payments from which it had hithe to been free. 



2l6 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

or under, there shall be paid 2S. 6d. sterling for every 
quarter of the oatmeal exported in the terms of the law, 
whereby, and so long as rewards are granted for exporta- 
tion of other grains_, and that the bere of Scotland have 
the same rewards as barley. And in respect the importa- 
tion of victual into Scotland from any place beyond sea 
would prove a discouragement to tillage, Therefore, that 
the prohibition, as now in force by the law of Scotland, 
against importation of victual from Ireland, or any other 
place beyond sea, into Scotland, do after the Union 
remain in the same force as now it is, until more proper 
and effectual ways be provided by the Parliament of 
Great Britain for discouraging the importation of the said 
victual from beyond sea. 

VII. That all parts of the ^United Kingdom be for- 
ever, from and after the Union, liable to the same excises 
upon all excisable liquors, excepting only that the thirty- 
four gallons English barrel of beer or ale, amounting to 
twelve gallons Scots, present measure, sold in Scotland 
by the brewer at 9s. 6d. sterling, excluding all duties, 
and retailed, including duties and the retailer's profit, at 
2d. the Scots pint, or eighth part of the Scots gallon, be 
not, after the Union, liable, on account of the present 
excise upon excisable liquors in England, to any higher 
imposition than 2s. sterling upon the aforesaid thirty-four 
gallons English barrel, being twelve gallons the present 
Scots measure, and that the excise settled in England 
on all other liquors, when the Union commences, take 
place throughout the whole United Kingdom.* 

VIII. That, from and after the Union, all foreign salt 
which shall be imported into Scotland shall be charged, at 
the importation there, with the same duties as the like salt is 
now charged with, being imported into England, and to be 
levied and secured in the same manner. But in regard the 
duties of great quantities of foreign salt imported may be 
very heavy on the merchants importers. That therefore all 
foreign salt imported into Scotland shall be cellared and 



* This section was regarded with popular disfavor in Scotland. Prior to the Union 
the excise in Scotland was farmed out in the different districts, and the collections 
were easy and were made according to the convenience of those who had to pay . 
The business was really transacted by neighbors in a neighborly fashion. After the 
Union the Boards of excise controlled from London introduced a stricter regime, with 
severe penalties for infringement of the law or delinquency in payments. 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 21 7 

locked up under the custody of the merchant importer and 
the officers employed for levying the duties upon salt; and 
that the merchant may have what quantities thereof his oc- 
casion may require, not under a weigh of forty bushels at a 
time, giving security for the duty of what quantity he re- 
ceives, payable in six months; but Scotland shall, for the 
space of seven years from the said Union, be exempted from 
paying in Scotland for salt made there the duty or excise 
now payable for salt made in England; but, from the expi- 
ration of the said seven years, shall be subject and liable to 
proportional duties for salt made in Scotland as shall be then 
payable for salt made in England, to be levied and secured 
in the same manner and with the same drawbacks and allow- 
ances as in England, with this exception, That Scotland 
shall, after the said seven years, remain exempted from the 
duty of 2S. 4d. a bushel on home salt, imposed by an Act 
made in England in the ninth and tenth of King William 
III. of England. And if the Parliament of Great Britain 
shall, at or before the expiring of the said seven years, sub- 
stitute any other fund in place of the said 2s. 4d. of excise 
on the bushel of home salt, Scotland shall, after the said 
seven years, bear a proportion of the said fund, and have an 
equivalent in the terms of this Treaty; and that, during the 
said seven years, there shall be paid in England, for all salt 
made in Scotland, and imported from thence into England, 
the same duties upon importation as shall be payable for 
salt made in England, to be levied and secured in the same 
manner as the duties on foreign salt are to be levied and se- 
cured in England. And that, after the said seven years, 
how long the said duty of 2s. 46. a bushel upon salt is con- 
tinned in England, the said 2s. 46. a bushel shall be payable 
for all salt made in Scotland and imported into England, to 
be levied and secured in the same manner; and that during 
the continuance of the duty of 2s. 4d. a bushel upon salt 
made in England, no salt whatsoever be brought from Scot- 
land to England by land in any manner, under the penalty 
o^ forfeiting the salt and the cattle and carriages made use 
of in bringing the same, and paying 20s. for every bushel of 
such salt, and proportionally for a greater or lesser quantity, 
for which the carrier as well as the owner shall be liable 
jointly and severally, and the persons bringing or carrying 
the same to be imprisoned by any one justice of the peace 



2l8 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

by the space of six months, without bail, and until the pen- 
alty be paid. And for establishing an equality in trade, 
That all fleshes exported from Scotland to England, and put 
on board in Scotland, to be exported to parts beyond the 
seas, and provisions for ships in Scotland and for foreign 
voyages, maybe salted with Scots salt, paying the same duty 
for what salt is so employed as the like quantity o*" such 
salt pays in England, and under the same penalties, for- 
feitures, and provisions for preventing of frauds as are 
mentioned in the laws of England; and that, from and after 
the Union, the Laws and Acts of Parliament in Scotland for 
pineing, curing, and packing of herrings, white fish, and 
salmon for exportation with foreign salt only, without any 
mixture of British or Irish salt, and for preventing of frauds 
in curing and packing of fish, be continued in force in Scot- 
land, subject to such alterations as shall be made by the Par- 
liament of Great Britain ; and that all fish exported from 
Scotland to parts beyond the seas, which shall be cured with 
foreign salt only, and without mixture of Britisher Irish salt, 
shall have the same eases, premiums, and drawbacks as are 
or shall be allowed to such persons as export the like fish 
from England; and that, for encouragement of the herring 
fishing, there shall be allowed and paid to the subjects in- 
habitants of Great Britain, during the present allowances 
for other fishes, los. 5d. sterling for every barrel of white 
herrings which shall be exported from Scotland; and that 
there shall be allowed 5s. sterling for every barrel of beef or 
pork salted with foreign salt, without mixture of British or 
Irish salt, and exported for sale from Scotland to parts be- 
yond sea, alterable by the Parliament of Great Britain. And 
if any matters or fraud relating to the said duties on salt 
shall hereafter appear, which are not sufficiently provided 
against by this article, the same shall be subject to such 
further provisions as shall be thought fit by the Parliament 
of Great Britain.* 

IX, That whenever the sum of ^1,997,763 8s. 4|d. 
shall be enacted by the Parliament of Great Britain, to be 
raised in that part of the United Kingdom now called Eng- 



* Taken as a whole, th c mmercial c'auses in 'h ' Treaty were eminently fair, and, 
if an thinsr, Scotland had the advantaee. The Enelish ci.mn issioners were not me- 
chants and pro -ably held commerce as a secondary consideration to whatever politi- 
cal advantages they might gain. 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 219 

land, on land and other things usually charged in Acts of 
Parliament there for granting an aid to the Crown by a land 
tax, that part of the United Kingdom now called Scotland 
shall be charged by the same Act with a further sum of 
^48,000, free of all charges, as the quota of Scotland to 
such tax, and so proportionally for any greater or lesser sum 
raised in England by any tax on land, and other things 
usually charged, together with the land ; and that such 
quota for Scotland, in the cases aforesaid, be raised and 
collected in the same manner as the cess now is in Scotland, 
but subject to such regulations in the manner of collecting 
as shall be made by the Parliament of Great Britain.* 

X. That during the continuance of the respective duties 
on stamped paper, vellum, and parchment, by several Acts 
now in force in England, Scotland shall not be charged with 
the same respective duties. 

XI. That during the continuance of the duties payable in 
England on windows and lights, which determines on the ist 
day of August, 1710, Scotland shall not be charged with the 
same duties. 

XII. That during the continuance of the duties payable 
in England on coals, culm, and cinders, which determines 
the 30th day of September, 17 10, Scotland shall not be 
charged therewith for coals, culm, and cinders consumed 
there, but shall be charged with the same duties as in Eng- 
land for all coal, culm, and cinders not consumed in 
Scotland. 

XIII. That during the continuance of the duty payable 
in England on malt, which determines the 24th day of June, 
1707, Scotland shall not be charged with that duty. 

XIV. That the kingdom of Scotland be not charged with 
any other duties laid on by the Parliament of England before 
the Union, except those consented to in this Treaty, in 
regard, it is agreed, that all necessary provisions shall be 
made by the Parliament of Scotland for the public charge 
and service of that kingdom for the year 1707 ; provided, 
nevertheless, that if the Parliament of England shall think 
fit to lay any further impositions by way of customs or such 



► 



* That is to say, Scotland agreed to pay one-fortieth of the direct taxation of the 
United Kingdom, and, on the ground that representation should be regulated by tax- 
ation, many hold that the English commissioners were particularly generous in allow- 
ing the Scots the number of parliamentary representatives they did. 



220 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

excises, with which, by virtue of this Treaty, Scotland is to 
be charged equally with England, in such case Scot- 
land shall be liable to the same customs and excises, 
and have an equivalent to be settled by the Parliament of 
Great Britain ; with this further provision, that any malt to 
be made and consumed in that part of the United Kingdom 
now called Scotland shall not be charged with any imposition 
upon malt during this present war. And seeing it cannot be 
supposed that the Parliament of Great Britain will ever lay 
any sorts of burdens upon the United Kingdom but what 
they shall find of necessity at that time for the preservation 
and good of the whole, and with due regard to the circum- 
stances and abilities of every part of the United Kingdom ; 
Therefore it is agreed that there be no further exemption 
insisted upon for any part of the United Kingdom, 
but that the consideration of any exemptions, beyond what 
are already agreed on in this Treaty, shall be left to the 
determination of the Parliament of Great Britain.* 

XV.f Whereas by the terms of this Treaty the subjects of 
Scotland, for preserving an equality of trade throughout the 
United Kingdom, will be liable to several customs and ex- 
cises now payable in England, which will be applicable 
towards payment of the debts of England contracted before 
the Union, it is agreed that Scotland shall have an equiva- 

* This article, and the four preceding, were merely introduced for the temporary 
protection of Scotland. 

t This article is the keystone of the treaty, and but for it the document would never 
have become law. It provided a fund fropi which the Scottish commissioners and 
others might be bribed to consent to all its provisions, either directly or indirectly. 
Among the sums paid were: Duke of Montrose, ^200: Duke of Athole, ;£iooo; Duke of 
Roxburgh, ;^50o; Marquis of Twceddale, ;^iooo; Earl of Marchmont, ;^iio4; Earl of 
Cromarty, ;^3oo; Earl of Balcarres, ;^5oo; Earl of Dunmore, ;^2oo; Earl of Eglinton, 
;^2oo; Earl of Forfar, ;^ioo; Earl of Gle cairn, ;^icx); Earl of Kintore, ;^2oo; Earl of 
Findlater. ;^ioo; Eari of Seafield, ;^49o; Lord Prestonhall, ;^20o: Lord Ormiston, 
;C2oo; Lord Anstruther, ;^3oo; Lord Fraser, ;^ioo; Lord Polwarth [or Cesnock], ;^5o; 
Lord Forbes , ;{^5o; Lord Elibank, ;^3o; and Lord Banff, ;iCii.2s! W^ell may we ex- 
claim, " Such a parcel of rogues in a nation.'' That a peer should sell his vo:e and 
his country for ;^ii, may be regarded as about the most contemptible transaction 
on record. Even the Frovost of Ayr got ;^too. The Lords Ordinary were to receive 
^500 a year instead of ;i^ioo, and all the law servants of the crown received gratuities or 
increased sa'aries. When the story of this wholesale bribery became partly known 
the people were furious, and when the money was taken to Edinburgh to be divided 
the citizens could only be kept from destroying it by shetr force of arms. They 
regarded the gold in the closely guarded wagons as being the price p iid in exchange 
for the delivery of the liberty of the kingdom int o the hands of the English . Possibly 
had they realized that the money was to be repaid by Scotland into the British treas 
ury, even the protection of the military would have been insufficient to p-event the 
coffers and their contents being thrown into the Nor' Loch. As Sir Walter Scott says: 
'■ The Parliament of Scotland' was bribed with the public money belonging to their 
own country. In this way Scotland herself was made to pay the price given to her 
legislators for the sacrifice of her independence." 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 221 

lent for what the. subjects thereof shall oe so charged 
towards payment of the said debts of England in all particu- 
lars whatsoever in manner following, viz., that before the 
union of the said kingdoms the sum of ^398,085 los. be 
granted to Her Majesty by the Parliament of England for 
the uses after mentioned, being the equivalent to be 
answered to Scotland for such parts of the said customs and 
excises upon all excisable liquors with which that kingdom 
is to be charged upon the Union as will be applicable to the 
payme-nt of the said debts of England, according to the pro- 
portions which the present customs in Scotland, being 
^30,000 per annum, do bear to the customs in England, com- 
puted at ;^i,34i,559 per annum, and which the present 
excises on excisable liquors in Scotland, being ;!^33,5oo per 
annum, do bear to the excises on excisable liquors in Eng- 
land, computed at ^947,602 per annum, which sum of 
^398,085 los. shall be due and payable from the time of 
the Union: And in regard that, after the Union, Scotland 
becoming liable to the same customs and duties payable on 
import and export, and to the same excises on all excisable 
liquors as in England, as well upon that account as upon the 
account of the increase of trade and people (which wnll be 
the happy consequence of the Union), the said revenues will 
much improve beyond the before-mentioned annual values 
thereof, of which no present estimate can be made ; yet, 
nevertheless, for the reasons aforesaid, there ought to be a 
proportional equivalent answered to Scotland, it is agreed 
that after the Union there shall be an account kept of the 
said duties arising in Scotland, to the end it may appear 
what ought to be answered to Scotland as an equivalent for 
such proportion of the said increase as shall be applicable to 
the payment of the debts of England ; and for the further 
and more effectual answering the several ends hereafter 
mentioned, it is agreed that, from and after the Union, the 
whole increase of the revenues of customs and duties on im- 
port and export, and excise upon excisable liquors in Scot- 
land, over and above the annual produce of the said respec- 
tive duties as above stated, shall go and be applied for the 
term of seven years to the uses hereafter mentioned, and 
that upon the said account there shall be answered to Scot- 
land annually, from the end of seven years after the Unio::;. an 
equivalent in proportion to such part of the said increase as 



22 2 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

shall be applicable to the debts of England ; and, generally, 
that an equivalent shall be answered to Scotland for such 
parts of the English debts as Scotland may hereafter become 
liable to pay, by reason of the Union, other than such for 
which appropriations have been made by Parliament of 
England of the customs or other duties on export and im- 
port, excises on all excisable liquors, in respect of which 
debts equivalents are hereinafter provided; and as for the 
uses to which the said sum of ^398,085 los. to be granted 
as aforesaid, and all other monies which are to be answered 
or allowed to Scotland as said is, are to be applied, it is 
agreed that in the first place, out of the foresaid sum, what 
consideration shall be found necessary to be had for 
any losses which private persons may sustain by reduc- 
ing the coin of Scotland to the standard and value of 
the coin of England, may be made good ; in the next place, 
that the capital stock or fund of the African and Indian 
Company of Scotland advanced, together with the interest 
for the said capital stock after the rate of 5 per cent, per 
annum from the respective times of the payment thereof, 
shall be paid,* upon payment of which capital stock and 
interest it is agreed the said company be dissolved and 
cease ; and also, that, from the time of passing the Act of 
Parliament in England for raising the said sum of ^£39^,085 
los., the said company shall neither trade, nor grant licence 
to trade, providing that if the said stock and interest shall 
not be paid in twelve months after the commencement of 
the Union, that then the said company may from thence- 
forward trade, or give licence to trade, until the said whole 
capital stock and interest shall be paid ; and as to the over- 
plus of the said sum of ^398,085 los., after payment of 
what considerations shall be had for losses in repairing the 
com and paying the said capital stock and interest, and also 
the whole increase of the said revenues of customs, duties, 
and excises above the present value which shall arise in 
Scotland during the said term of seven years, together with 
the equivalent which shall become due upon the improve- 
ment thereof in Scotland after the said term, and also as 



* The Darien scheme, the stock in which was largely held by the Scotch com- 
missioners, the members of the Scotch Parliament, and the upper classf-s generally. 
This was one of the most thoughtful schemes for making the bribery in con- 
nection with the Union be as widespread as possible that could be imagined. Even 
the Royal Burghs were -t<.ckh.>lders. 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 223 

to all other sums which, according to the agreements 
aforesaid, may become payable to Scotland by way of 
equivalent for what tnat kingdom shall hereafter become 
liable towards payment of the debt of England, it is agreed 
that the same be applied in manner following, viz., that all 
the public debts of the kingdom of Scotland, as shall be 
adjusted by this present Parliament, shall be paid ;* and 
that ^2,000 per annum for the space of seven years shall be 
applied towards encouraging and promoting the manufacture 
of coarse wool within these shires which produce the wool, 
and that the first ^2,000 sterling be paid at Martinmas next, 
and so yearly at Martinmas during the space foresaid ; and 
afterwards the same shall be wholly applied towards en- 
couraging and promoting the fisheries, and such other manu- 
factures and improvements in Scotland as may most 
conduce to the general good of the United Kingdom. And 
it is agreed that Her Majesty be empowered to appoint 
commissioners, who shall be accountable to the Parliament 
of Great Britain, for disposing the said sum of ^£^398, 085 
los., and all other monies which shall arise to Scotland upon 
the agreements aforesaid to the purposes before mentioned, 
which commissioners shall be empowered to call for, receive, 
and dispose of the said monies in manner aforesaid, and to 
inspect the books of the several collectors of the said reve- 
nues, and of all other duties from whence an equivalent may 
arise ; and that the collectors and managers of the said 
revenues and duties be obliged to give to the said com- 
missioners subscribed authentic abbreviates of the produce 
of such revenues and duties arising in their respective 
districts ; and that the said commissioners shall have their 
office within the limits of Scotland, and shall in such office 
keep books containing accounts of the amount of the 
equivalents, and how the same shall have been disposed of 
from time to time, which may be inspected by any of the 
subjects who shall desire the same. 

XVI. That, from and after the Union, the coin shall be 
of the same standard and value throughout the United King- 
dom as now in England, and a Mint shall be continued in Scot- 
land under the same rules as the Mint in England ; and 



* Most of the public debts herein referied to were arrearages of salary to public 
officials. 



^24 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

the present officers of the Mint continued, subject to such 
regulations and alterations as Her Majesty, her heirs or 
successors, or the Parliament of Great Britain, shall think fit. 

XVII. That, from and after the Union, the same weights 
and measures shall be used throughout the United King- 
dom as are now established in England, and standards of 
weights and measures shall be kept by those burghs in Scot- 
land to whom the keeping the standards of weights and 
measures, now in use there, does of special right belong ; 
all which standards shall be sent down to such respective 
burghs from the standards kept in the exchequer at West- 
minster, subject, nevertheless, to such regulations as the 
Parliament of Great Britain shall think fit. 

XVIII. That the laws concerning regulation of trade, 
customs, and such excises to which Scotland is, by virtue 
of this Treaty, to be liable, be the same in Scotland, 
from and after the Union, as in England, and that all 
other laws in use within the kingdom of Scotland do, after 
the Union, and notwithstanding thereof, remain in the same 
force as before (except such as are contrary to or incon- 
sistent with this Treaty), but alterable by the Parliament of 
Great Britain ; with this difference betwixt the laws 
concerning public right, policy, and civil government, and 
those which concern private right, that the laws which con- 
cern public right, policy, and civil government may be made 
the same throughout the whole United Kmgdom, but that 
no alteration be^ made in laws which concern private right, 
except for evident utility of the subjects within Scotland. 

XIX. That the Court of Session, or College of Justice, 
do, after the Union, and notwithstanding thereof, remain in 
all time coming within Scotland, as it is now constituted by 
the laws of that kingdom, and with the same authority and 
privileges as before the Union, subject, nevertheless, to such 
regulations, for the better administration of justice, as shall 
be made by the Parliament of Great Britain ; and that here- 
after none shall be named by Her Majesty, or her royal 
successors, to be ordinary Lords of Session, but such who 
have served in the College of Justice as advocates, or 
principal clerks of Session, for the space of five years, or as 
Writers to the Signet for the space of ten years, with this 
provision, that no Writer to the Signet be capable to be 
admitted a Lord of the Session, unless he undergo a private and 



THE TREATY OF UNION. ±2$ 

public trial on the civil law before the Faculty of Advocates, 
and be found by them qualified for the said office two years 
before he be named to be a Lord of the Session, yet so as 
the qualifications made or to be made, for capacitating per- 
sons to be named Ordinary Lords of Session, may be 
altered by the Parliament of Great Britain. And that the 
Court of Justiciary do also, after the Union, and notwith- 
standing thereof, remain, in all time coming, within Scot- 
land, as it is now constituted by the laws of that kingdom, 
and with the same authority and privileges as before the 
Union, subject, nevertheless, to such regulations as shall be 
made by the Parliament of Great Britain, and without 
prejudice of other rights of justiciary ; and that all 
Admiralty jurisdictions be under the Lord High Admiral or 
Commissioners for the Admiralty of Great Britain for the 
time being ; and that the Court of Admiralty, now established 
in Scotland, be continued ; and that all reviews, reductions, 
or suspensions of the sentences in maritime cases, competent 
to the jurisdiction of that Court, remain in the same manner 
after the Union as now in Scotland, until the Parliament of 
Great Britain shall make such regulations and alterations as 
shall be judged expedient for the whole United Kingdom ; 
so as there be always continued in Scotland a Court of 
Admiralty, such as in England, for determination of all 
maritime cases relating to private rights in Scotland, com- 
petent to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court, subject, 
nevertheless, to such regulations and alterations as shall be 
thought proper to be made by the Parliament of Great 
Britain ; and that the heritable rights of Admiralty and 
Vice-Admiralties in Scotland be reserved to the respective 
proprietors as rights of property, subject, nevertheless, as to 
the manner of exercising such heritable rights, to such regu- 
lations and alterations as shall be thought proper to be made 
by the Parliament of Great Britain ; and that all other 
Courts, now in being within the kingdom of Scotland, do 
remain, but subject to alterations by the Parliament of 
Great Britain ; and that all inferior Courts within the said 
limits do remain subordinate, as they are now, to the 
Supreme Courts of Justice within the same in all time 
coming ; and that no causes in Scotland be cognoscible by 
the Court of Chancery, Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, or 
any other Court in Westminster Hall ; and that the said 



2 26 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Courts, or any other of the like nature, after the Union, 
shall have no power to cognosce, review, or alter the Acts 
or sentences of the judicatures within Scotland, or stop the 
execution of the same ; and that there be a Court of Ex- 
chequer in Scotland after the Union for deciding questions 
concerning the revenues of customs and excises there, having 
the same power and authority in such cases as the Court of 
Exchequer has in England ; and that the said Court of Ex- 
chequer in Scotland have power of passing signatures, gifts, 
tutories, and in other things, as the Court of Exchequer at 
present in Scotland hath ; and that the Court of Exchequer 
that now is in Scotland do remain until a new Court of Ex- 
chequer be settled by the Parliament of Great Britain in 
Scotland after the Union ; and that, after the Union, the 
Queen's Majesty and her royal successors may continue a 
Privy Council in Scotland, for preserving of public peace 
and order, until the Parliament of Great Britain shall think 
fit to alter it, or establish any other effectual method for 
that end. 

XX. That all heritable offices, superiorities, heritable 
jurisdictions, offices for life, and jurisdictions for life, be 
reserved to the owners thereof, as rights of property, in the 
same manner as they are now enjoyed by the laws of Scot- 
land, notwithstanding of this Treaty.* 

XXI. That the rights and privileges of the royal burghs 
in Scotland, as they now are, do remain entire after the 
Union, and notwithstanding thereof.f . 

XXII. That, by virtue of this Treaty, of the Peers of 



* The main purport of this article was to continue the peers and their dependents 
in honorary or lucrative positions. 

t The Royal Burghs did not appreciate the favor thus shown them, for as soon as 
the provisions of the treaty were made public they denounced it in unmeasured terms. 
In a petition to the Queen's Commoners and the Parliament, the Convention of Royal 
Burghs said : '* Seeing, by the art.cles of Union, now und.r the consideration of the 
Honorable Estates of Parliament, it is agreed that Scotland and England shall be 
united into one kingdom; and that the united kingdoms be united by one and 
the same Parliament, by which our monarchy is suppressed, our parliament extin- 
guished, and in consequence, our religion, church government, claim of right, 
laws, liberties, trade, and all that is dear to us. daily in danger of being encroached 
upon, altered or wholly subverted by the English in a British Parliament, wherein 
the mean representation allowed for Scotland can never signify in securing to us the 
interest reserved by us, or granted to us by the English. 

" And by these articles our poor people are made liable to the English taxes which 
is a certain unsupportable burden, considering that the trade proposed is uncertain, in- 
volved and wholly precarious, especially when regulated as to e.«port and import by 
the laws of England, and under the same prohibitions and restrictions, customs and 
duties. And considering that the most considerable branches of our trade are differ- 
ing from those of England, and are, and may be yet more discouraged by their laws 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 227 

Scotland at the time of the Union, sixteen shall be the 
number to sit and vote in the House of Lords,* and forty- 
five the number of the representatives of Scotland in the 
House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain ; 
and that when Her Majesty, her heirs or successors, shall 
declare her or their pleasure for holding the first or any sub- 
sequent Parliament of Great Britain, until the Parliament of 
Great Britam shall make further provision therein, a writ do 
issue under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, directed 
to the Privy Council of Scotland, commanding them to 
cause sixteen Peers, who are to sit in the House of Lords, 
to be summoned to Parliament, and forty-five members to 
be elected to sit in the House of Commons of the Parlia- 
ment of Great Britain, according to the agreement in this 
Treaty, in such manner as by a subsequent Act of this present 
session of the Parliament of Scotland shall be settled ; which 
Act is hereby declared to be as valid as if it were a part of and 

and that all the concerts of trade and our interest are, after the Union, subject to 
such alterations as the Parliament of Great Britain shall think fit; 
"We therefore supplicate your Grace [the Queen's Representative] and the Honor- 
able Estates of Parliament, and do assuredly expect that ye will not conclude 
such an Incorporate Union, as is contained in the articles proposed, but that ye 
will support and maintain the true Reformed Protestant Kehgion and Church 
Government, as by law established, the sovereignty and independency of this 
crown and kingdom, and the rights and privileges of Parliament." 
* This article probably aroused a more bitter opposition than any other. The Scots 
did not anticipate in consenting to a single parliament that Scotland's representation 
in it would be so meagre. The Scottish Commoners thought that all their peers 
would get seats in the British House of Lords, and that their share in the House of 
Commons should be 170 at least. The English at first placed the figures at 16 Lords 
and 30 Commoners, and for a time it seemed as though all negoiiations were at an end. 
The compromise of 45 Commoners was finally accepted. On this point Sir Walter 
bcott wntts : " It was loudly urged that a kingdom resigning her ancient independ- 
ence should at least obtain in the great national council a representation bearing the 
same proportion the population of Scotland did to that of England, which was one to 
SIX. If this rule, which seems the fairest that could be found, had been adopted, Scot- 
land would have sent sixty-six members to the United Pailiament. * * * /he 
Scottish peerage were to preserve all the other privileges of their rank; but their right 
of sitting in parHament and acting as her. ditary le^ islators, was to be greatly limited . 
Only sixteen of their number were to enj y srats in the Entish House of Lords and 
these were to be chosen by election from the whole body. Such peers as were amongst 
the number of Commissioneis were induced to consent to this degr dation ot their 
order by the assurance that they themselves should be created British peers, so a to 
give them, personally, by charter, the right which the sixteen could only acquire by 

^^ The Entish view is thus stated by Hallam, in his " Constitutional History of 
England"- "The ratio of population would indeed have given Scotland about one- 
eighth of the legislative body, instead of something less than one twelfth but no 
eovernment, except the merest democracy, is settled on the sole basis of numbers; and 
if the tompaiison of wealth and of public contributions was to be admitted it may be 
thought that a country which stipulated for itself to pay less than one-fortieth of 
direct taxation, was not entitled to a much greater share of the representation than it 
obtained. Comparing the two ratios of population and property there seems little 
objection to this part of the union." 



2 2S SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

engrossed in this Treaty ; and that the names of the persons 
so summoned and elected shall be returned by the Privy 
Council of Scotland into the Court from whence the said 
writ did issue ; and that if Her Majesty, on or before the ist 
day of May next, on which day the Union is to take place, 
shall declare, under the Great Seal of England, that it is 
expedient that the Lords of Parliament of England and 
Commons of the present Parliament of England should be 
the members of the respective Houses of the first Parlia- 
ment of Great Britain, for and on the part of England, then 
the said Lords of Parliament of England, and Commons 
of the present Parliament of England, shall be the members 
of the respective Houses of the first Parliament of 
Great Britain, for and on the part of England ; and Her 
Majesty may, by Her Royal Proclamation under the 
Great Seal of Great Britain, appoint the said first Parlia- 
ment of Great Britain to meet at such time and place as 
Her Majesty shall think fit, which time shall not be less 
than fifty days after the date of such Proclamation ; and 
the time and place of the meeting of such Parliament 
being so appointed, a writ shall be immediately issued 
under the Great Seal of Great Britain, directed to the 
Privy Council of Scotland, for the summoning the sixteen 
Peers, and for electing forty-five members, by whom 
Scotland is to be represented in the Parliament of Great 
Britain, and the Lords of Parliament of England, and the 
sixteen Peers of Scotland, such sixteen Peers being sum- 
moned and returned in the same manner agreed in this 
Treaty, and the Members of the House of Commons of the 
said Parliament of England, and the forty-five members for 
vScotland, such forty-five members being elected and returned 
in the manner agreed in this Treaty, shall assemble and meet 
respectively in their respective Houses of the Parliament 
of Great Britain at such time and place as shall be so ap- 
pointed by Her Majesty, and shall be the two Houses of the 
first Parliament of Great Britain; and that Parliament may 
continue for such time only as the present Parliament of 
England might have continued if the union of the two king- 
doms had not been made, unless sooner dissolved by Her 
Majesty. And that every one of the Lords of Parliament of 
Great Britain, and every Member of the House of Com- 
mons of the Parliament of Great Britain, in the first and all 



THE TREATY OF UNIOxX. 229 

succeeding Parliaments of Great Britain, until the Parlia- 
ment of Great Britain shall otherwise direct, shall take the 
respective oaths appointed to be taken, instead of the oaths 
of allegiance and supremacy, by an Act of Parliament made 
m England in the first year of the reign of the late King 
William and Queen Mary, entituled ''An Act for the 
Abrocating of the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance, 
and appointing other Oaths;" and make, subscribe, and 
audibly repeat the declaration mentioned in an Act of Par- 
liament made in p:ngland in the thirtieth year of the reign 
of King Charles the Second, entituled "An Act for the mol-e 
effectual Preserving the King's Person and Government by 
disabling Papists from sitting in either Houses of Parlia- 
ment; " and shall take and subscribe the oath mentioned in 
an Act of Parliament made in England in the first year of 
Her Majesty's reign, entituled ' ' An Act to declare the Alter- 
ations in the Oath appointed to be taken by the Act enti- 
tuled ' An Act for the further Security of His Majesty's 
Person, and the Succession of the Crown in the Protestant 
Line, and for extinguishing the hopes of the pretended 
Prince of Wales, and all other Pretenders, and their open 
and secret Abettors, and for declaring the Association to be 
determined:'" at such time, and in such manner, as the 
Members of both Houses of Parliament of England are, by 
the said respective Acts, directed to take, make, and sub- 
scribe the same, upon the penalties and disabilities contained 
in the said respective Acts contained. And it is declared 
and agreed that these words, "This Realm," '^^ he Crown 
of this Realm," and '' The Queen of this Realm," mentioned 
in the oaths and declaration contained in the aforesaid Acts, 
which were intended to signify the Crown and Realm of 
England, shall be understood of the Crown and Realm of 
Great Britain; and that, in that sense, the said oaths and de- 
claration be taken and subscribed by the Members of both 
Houses of the Parliament of Great Britain. 

XXni. That the foresaid sixteen peers of Scotland, 
mentioned in the last preceding article, to sit in the House 
of Lords of the Parliament of Great Britain, shall have all 
privileges of Parliament which the peers of England now 
have, and which they or any peers of Great Britain shall 
have after the Union, and particularly the right of sitting 
upon the trials of peers; and in case of the trial of any peer 



230 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

in time of adjournment or prorogation of Parliament, the 
said sixteen peers shall be summoned in the same manner 
and have the same powers and privileges at such trial as an}' 
other peers of Great Britain. And that, in case any trials of 
peers shall hereafter happen when there is no Parliament, 
in being, the sixteen peers of Scotland who sat in the last 
preceding Parliament shall be summoned in the same man- 
ner and have the same powers and privileges at such 
trials as any other peers of Great Britain. And that all 
peers of Scotland, and their successors to their honours 
and dignities, shall, from and after the Union, be 
peers of Great Britain and have rank and precedency 
next and immediately after the peers of the like orders and 
degrees in England at the time of the Union, and before all 
peers of Great Britain of the like orders and degrees who 
may be created after the Union, and shall be tried as peers 
of Great Britain, and shall enjoy all privileges of peers as 
fully as the peers of England do now, or as they or any other 
peers of Great Britain may hereafter enjoy the same, except 
the right and privilege of sitting in the House of Lords, and 
the privileges depending thereon, and particularly the right 
of sitting upon the trials of peers. 

XXIV. That, from and after the Union, there be one 
Great Seal for the United Kingdom of Great Britain, which 
shall be different from the Great Seal now used in either 
kingdom; and that the quartering the arms and the rank and 
precedency of the Lyon King of Arms of the kingdom of 
Scotland, as may best suit the Union, be left to her Majesty; 
and that, in the meantime, the Great Seal of England be 
used as the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, and that the 
Great Seal of the United Kingdom be used for sealing writs 
to elect and summon the Parliament of Great Britain, and 
for sealing all treaties with foreign princes and states, and 
all public acts, instruments, and orders of state which con- 
cern the whole United Kingdom, and in all other matters 
relating to England, as the Great Seal of England is now 
used; and that a seal in Scotland, after the Union, be always 
kept, and made use of in all things relating to private rights 
or grants, which have usually passed the Great Seal of Scot- 
land, and which only concern offices, grants, commissions, 
and private rights within that kingdom; and that, until such 
Seal shall be appointed by Her Majesty, the present Great 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 2 7,1 

Seal of Scotland shall be used for such purposes; and that 
the privy seal, signet, cachet, signet of the Justiciary Court, 
quarter seal, and seals of Courts, now used in Scotland, be 
continued,* but that the said seals be altered and adapted to 
the state of the Union, as Her Majesty shall think fit; and 
the said seals, and all of them, and the keepers of them, shall 
be subject to such regulations as the Parliament of Great 
Britain shall hereafter make; and that the Crown, Sceptre, 
and Sword of State, the Records of Parliament and all other 
records, rolls, and registers whatsoever, both public and 
private, general and particular, and warrants thereof, con- 
tinue to be kept as they are within that part of the United 
Kingdom now called Scotland, and that they shall so remain 
in all time coming, notwithstanding of the Union. 

XXV. That all laws and statutes in either kingdom, so far 
as they arp contrary to or inconsistent with the terms of these 
articles, or any one of them, shall, from and after the Union, 
cease and become void, and shall be so declared to be by 
the respective Parliaments of the said kingdoms. 
Follows the tenor of the aforesaid Act for securing the Pro- 
testant Religion and Presbyterian Church Governme?it in 
Scotland* 

Our Sovereign Lady and the Estates of Parliament, con- 
sidering that, by the late Act of Parliament for a Treaty with 
England for an Union of both kingdoms, it is provided, 
That the Commissioners for that Treaty should not treat of 
or concerning any alteration of the worship, discipline, and 



* A new office was appointed in carrying out this article, that of Keeper of the Great 
Seal in Scotland, The seal was foimerly kept by the Lord Chancellors of the 
kingdom. 

t Professor Herbert Story writes : " The Commission of the General Assembly * 
* represented the Church (of Scotland) during tie progress of the Treaty with 
calmness and dignity, and in its address to Parliamt nt temperately stated those points 
in the measure which were considered defective . 1 he Commission complained of the 
English Sacramental text as the condition of holding civil and military offices, and 
urged that no oath or text of any kind, inconsistent with Presbyterian principles 
should be required from Scottish Churchman. They recommended that an obligation 
to uphold the Church of Scotland ^hould be embodied in the coronation oath. They 
rcprese .ted the necessity of a ' Commission for the Plantation of Kirks and Valuation 
of Teinds;' and they concluded their fullest and most formal representation with an 
intimation that, knowing, as they did, that twenty-six bishops sat in the House of 
Lords, which, on the conclusion of the Treaty, would have jurisdiction in Scottish 
affairs; they desired to state with all respect, but fill firmness, that it was contrary to 
the Church's principles and covenants that any churchman should bear civil office and 
have power in the commonwealth. 

"These represent=»tions had their due effect. The bench of bishops, of course, could 
mtbc removed. The operation of the test act in England, though its scandal and 
injustice we e undeniable, could not be meddled with, but as a kind of equivalrnt for 



2^2 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

government of the Church of this kingdom, as now by law 
established ; which Treaty being now reported to the Parlia- 
ment, and it being reasonable and necessary that the true 
Protestant religion, as presently professed within this 
kingdom, with the worship, discipline, and government of 
this Church, should be effectually and unalterably secured ; 
therefore Her Majesty, with advice and consent of the 
said Estates of Parliament, doth hereby establish and 
confirm the said true Protestant religion, and the wor- 
ship, discipline, and government of this Church to con- 
tinue without any alteration to the people of this land in 
all succeeding generations ; and more especially, Her 
Majesty, with advice and consent foresaid, ratifies, 
approves, and forever confirms the fifth Act of the first 
Parliament of King William and Queen Mary, entituled 
''Act Ratifying the Confession of Faith, and Settling 
Presbyterian Church Government," with the whole other 
Acts of Parliament relating thereto, in prosecution of the 
Declaration of the Estates of this kingdom, containing 
the Claim of Right, bearing date the nth of April, 
1689 ; and Her Majesty, with advice and consent foresaid, 
expressly provides and declares that the foresaid true 
Protestant religion contained in the above-mentioned 
Confession of Faith, with the form and purity of worship 
presently in use within this Church, and its Presbyterian 
Church government and discipline, that is to say, the 
government of the Church by kirk-sessions_, presbyteries, 
provincial synods, and general assemblies, all' established 
by the foresaid Acts of Parliament, pursuant to the 
Claim of Right, shall remain and continue unalterable ; 
and that the said Presbyterian government shall be the 
only government of the Church within the kingdom of 
Scotland. And further, for the greater security of the 



this grievance, and to guard the Scotch universities and schools against the dreaded 
infection of prelacy, it was enacted that every professor and teacher should, ere his 
admission, subscribe the Confession of Faith as being the confession of his faith, 
and bind himself in the Presbytery's presence to conform to the discipline and worship 
of the Established Church. It was provided that the unalterable establishment and 
maintenance of the Presbyterian Church should be stipulated by an act prior to any 
other act, that should ratify the Treaty, and" should then be embodied in the Act of 
Ratification; and that the first oath the Bri ish Sovereign should take on his accession 
should bean oath to maintain the government, worship, discipline, rights and privi- 
leges of the Church of Scotland. Th' minor points, as to kirks and tiends were satis- 
factorily disposed of, and the Chu'ch saw her firmness and moderation crowned with 
adequate success."— Lecture on The Revolution Settlement. 



THE TREATY OF UNION. 233 

foresaid Protestant religion, and of the worship, disci- 
pline, and government of this Church, as above estab- 
lished, Her Majesty, with advice and consent foresaid, 
statutes and ordains, That the Universities and Colleges of 
St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, as now 
established by law, shall continue within this kingdom for- 
ever. And that, in all time coming, no professors, principals, 
regents, masters, or others bearing office in any university, 
college, or school, within this kingdom, be capable, or be 
admitted, or allowed to continue in the exercise of their 
said functions, but such as shall own and acknowledge 
the civil government in manner prescribed, or to be pre- 
scribed by the Acts of Parliament. As also, that before 
or at their admissions, they do and shall acknowledge 
and profess, and shall subscribe to the foresaid Confes- 
sion of Faith, as the confession of their faith ; and that 
they will practice and conform themselves to the worship 
presently in use in this Church, and submit themselves 
to the government and discipline thereof, and never 
endeavor, directly or indirectly, the prejudice or sub- 
version of the same ; and that before the respective 
Presbyteries of their bounds, by whatsoever gift, pre- 
sentation, or provision, they may be thereto provided. 
And further. Her Majesty, with advice foresaid, expressly 
declares and statutes, That none of the subjects of this 
kingdom shall be liable to, but all and every one of them 
forever free of any oath, test, or subscription, within 
this kingdom, contrary to or inconsistent with the fore- 
said true Protestant religion and Presbyterian Church 
government, worship, and discipline, as above estab- 
lished ; and that the same, within the bounds of this 
Church and kingdom, shall never be imposed upon, or 
required of them in any sort. And lastly, that after the 
decease of Her present Majesty (whom God long pre- 
serve), the sovereign succeeding to her in the Royal 
Government of the kingdom of Great Britain shall, 
in all time coming, at his or her accession to the 
Crown, swear and subscribe that they shall inviolably 
maintain and preserve the foresaid settlement of the true 
Protestant religion, with the government, worship, disci- 
pline, right, and privileges of this Church, as above 
established by the laws of this kingdom, in prosecution 



234 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

of the Claim of Right. And it is hereby statute and 
ordained, that this Act of ParHament, with the establish- 
ment therein contained, shall be held and observed, in 
all time coming, as a fundamental and essential condi- 
tion of any Treaty of Union to be concluded betwixt the 
two kingdoms, without any alteration thereof, or deroga- 
tion thereto, in any sort forever. As also, that this Act 
of Parliament, and settlement therein contained, shall be 
insert and repeated in any Act of Parliament that shall 
pass, for agreeing and concluding the foresaid Treaty of 
Union betwixt the two kingdoms ; and that the same 
shall be therein expressly declared to be a fundamental 
and essential condition of the said Treaty of Union, in 
all time coming. Which articles of Union, and Act immedi- 
ately above written, Her Majesty, with advice and consent 
foresaid, statutes, enacts, and ordains to be, and continue, 
in all time coming, the sure and perpetual foundation of a 
complete and entire Union of the two kingdoms of Scotland 
and England, under this express condition and provision, 
that the approbation and ratification of the foresaid articles 
and Act shall be no ways binding on this kingdom until 
the said articles and Act be ratified, approven, and con- 
firmed by Her Majesty, with and by the authority of the 
Parliament of England, as they are now agreed to, approven, 
and confirmed by Her Majesty, with and by the authority 
of the Parliament of Scotland. Declaring, nevertheless, 
that the Parliament of England may provide for the security 
of the Church of England as they think expedient, to take 
place within the bounds of the said kingdom of England, 
and not derogating from the security above provided for 
establishing of the Church of Scotland within the bounds of 
this kingdom. As also the said Parliament of England 
may extend the additions and other provisions contained in 
the articles of Union, as above insert in favor of the sub- 
jects of Scotland, to and in favor of the subjects of Eng- 
land, which shall not suspend or derogate from the force 
and effect of this present ratification, but shall be under- 
stood as herein included, without the necessity of any new 
ratification in the Parliament of Scotland. And lastly. Her 
Majesty enacts and declares that all laws and statutes in 
this kingdom, so far as they are contrary to, or inconsistent 
with the terms of these articles as above mentioned, shall, 
from and after the Union, cease and become void." 



NOBLEMEN I HAVE KNOWN, 



IT is a frequent subject of remark that ''Americans 
dearly love a lord." So they do. A few are ready to 
idolize one whenever they catch him, and all classes desire 
to see a real live lord, to gaze into his aristocratic features, 
and to observe his walk and deportment. 

But 1 question very much whether all this lord-worship 
springs from any servile notions or aristocratic proclivities on 
the part of the citizens of these United States. They — that 
is, the majority — seem to be impressed with the desire of be- 
holding a representative of one of the institutions of the Old 
World which, fortunately for us all, cannot be reproduced 
on this side of the Atlantic, particularly in this section 
of it. The titled aristocrats of Europe have long regarded 
themselves, and been regarded by those who surround them, 
as a privileged class. They are looked up to as though 
they and their rights and honors are in a measure sacred, 
and as though even their persons are far superior in every 
way to those of the " common herd," as they impertinently 
used to call the people. Americans love to see these great 
folks, and gaze at them with all their might, but their senti- 
ments toward them are akin to those they would entertain 
for any noble son of the desert who happened to be on exhi- 
bition in a circus or a great moral show. Curiosity is at 
the bottom of it all, except when real personal worth accom- 
panies the title. 

Again, some of the aristocratic visitors to America are 
wearers of titles which figure so often in history that it 
seems like getting a glimpse into the olden time to look 
upon them. Suppose, for instance, that the Duke of Nor- 
folk happened to come over here, how the pages of history 
and the utterances of the poets v/ould be overhauled to 



236 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

bring to memory all the scenes and passages in which the 
" Grand Marshals of England" have figured ! When the 
Duke of Argyll visited this country several years ago, the 
newspapers were full of stories — true and false — illustrative 
of the Campbells from the beginning of their history until 
the present time. People talked of the " MacCallum 
More " as though they met him every morning at breakfast, 
or ''was a cousin of his own," as an Irishman might say. 
Sometimes, however, the newspaper historians get a " little 
off " in their haste to be the first to tell their news to the 
public. A year or two ago it was announced somehow that 
Earl Percy, eldest son of the Duke of Northumberland, was 
about to visit New York en route for Ottawa, where his 
brother-in-law, the Marquis of Lome, held court as Gov- 
ernor-General of the Dominion. Lord Percy did not come, 
but the newspapers made a great ado about him as a descend- 
ant of the gallant old Percies who played such prominent parts 
in the Border Wars between England and Scotland, and 
whose prowess has been the theme of much of the best 
ballad lore of Central Britain. The fact was, however, that 
the earl had no m.ore to do with the ancient Percies than the 
reader of these lines. His family name was Smithson. 

I have met in the city of New York quite a number of 
men who laid claim to titles in the British peerage. I do 
not mean individuals who believed they were descended 
from noble families, but men who asserted that they were 
the very head-centre around whom the reverence of their 
own particular family should rally. According to their own 
stories, they were debarred from taking actual possession by 
some simple quirk in the law, or because of a single missing 
link in the chain of evidence they had connected, or by 
some secret malignant influence exercised by the family 
which is actually enjoying the honors and estates at the 
present time. And this reminds me that in the American, 
and even in the British popular mind, titles and estates are 
always associated together. People can hardly believe that it is 
possible for them to be separated, and yet it is a simple fact 
that they are quite distinct. It is only the other day that 
the Earl of Balcarres actually bought the estate of that name, 
although the title had been in his own family for several 
generations. Lord Reay does not possess an inch of ground 
in all the wide section of country which is still called " Lord 



NOBLEMEN I HAVE KNOWN. ^2>7 

Reay's country." Lord Belhaven does not own an acre of 
land anywhere, nor is the Duke of Edinburgh proprietor of 
even a single room in the city which gives him his appella- 
tion. The time was, of course, when things were different, 
but nowadays a title is simply an honor, and land means 
wealth. I question much whether the modern arrangement 
is an improvement on the old one or not, for a poor noble- 
man is, very often, one of the most useless beings on the face 
of the earth. His rank unfits him for actual work, and, un- 
less something nice and genteel can be secured for him 
through ihe influence of his more fortunate relatives, his 
lines are laid in very disagreeable places indeed. 

The noblemen to whom I am about to refer had them- 
selves no doubt whatever as to the perfect justness of their 
claims. They v/ere all delighted to go over their stories, 
and could argue the pros and co?is with an earnestness which 
would have done credit to a crown lawyer. To me there was 
always something pathetic in the recitals. These men be- 
lieved they were the victims of adverse circumstances, that 
they were wronged; and there is nothing more disheartening 
than for human beings to pass through life with such an un- 
satisfactory burden in their breasts as this. I do not profess 
to be capable of expressing any definite opinion as to 
whether their claims had any real foundation or not. To 
be able to do so one would require to spend a great deal of 
time examining documents, studying genealogies and so 
forth, and would need to be imbrued with the enthusiasm 
and patience of an antiquary. In my humble judgment, 
however, their stories were all feasible enough, and I really 
believe they claimed the titles with as much right on their 
side as enabled others to hold them. Very few peerages of 
one or two hundred years' standing can show a clear 
descent. 

The first nobleman I met here was Sandy Fraser, who 
made a scanty living by peddling books and magazines in 
New York. He was a short, thick-set man, with a large head 
and long dark hair, threaded here and there with gray. His 
face was sadly marred by the marks of small-pox, but his 
full, broad forehead and decisive-looking mouth showed him 
to be a man of much force ol character. So he was. Woe 
betide any of his customers who happened to offend him or 
any who ventured to question the antiquity and grandeur of 



238 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

the Frasers, the beauty of the Gaelic, or the transcendent 
excellences of Dugald Buchanan, the Highland bard. His 
tongue was ready, and his argumentative skill always primed 
so as to go off on a moment's notice. I remember seeing 
him, one day, march up Broadway in a towering passion, 
muttering terrible oaths, while his eyes glared wildly. He 
quieted down a little after I had accosted him, and explained 
that some young Scotch fools in a bank on Wall street had 
tried to force down his throat the assertion that every one of 
the chiefs of the Frasers had been hanged, or ought to have 
been. The old man did not make very much money at his 
occupation. It could hardly be expected that he would, for 
his manners repelled instead of attracting customers. Be- 
sides, New York business men have no time for discussing 
the history of the Frasers, and Sandy always managed to 
turn a conversation in that direction, no matter on what 
theme it had begun. A few winters ago he fell iato bad 
health, and his visits to his accustomed places became infre- 
quent and irregular. One day I received a message from him, 
a very urgent call, and found him lying in a dark hall bed- 
room near the top of a very dirty tenement in Goerck street. 
He was unable to speak, and by the dim light of a candle I 
could see, only too plainly, that he was dying. There was 
no doubt of that. The skin on his cheeks was stretched and 
pinched, his lips were blue, and his eyes were surrounded by 
a dark, broad circle, and had a sort of far-away look such as 
I had never seen before. He lifted his thin, wasted arm and 
placed his hand in mine, but its clammy feeling made me 
almost shudder. In a few words, whispered with effort, he 
told me that he knew his time had come, that he had not a 
penny in the world, and then with awful earnestness implored 
me not to allow his body to be buried in Potter's Field. I 
promised — I could do nothing else — and he sunk back on 
his pillow with a sort of sigh of relief. After a while I said 
I would go and bring him a doctor. But he again seized 
me by the hand and whispered: '' Ye needna mind; it's nae 
use. I'm gauin fast. Ye' 11 be at plenty o' expense wi' me 
sune enough." So for an hour he held me by the hand, 
while I sat and watched the life ebb slowly and softly out of 
his frame. He died like a baby, so easily, and without any 
sign of pain. A moment before the end he opened his eyes 
wide and stared into mine with a terrible earnestness, which I 



NOBLEMEN I HAVE KNOWN. 239 

answered, as well as I could, by a gentle pressure on his 
cold damp hand. Then the light faded from the eyes, the head 
drooped slightly, the hand in mme lay a little heavier, and 
all was over. 

He was buried in Cypress Hills Cemetery as respectably, 
at least, as he desired. In company with half a dozen of his 
countrymen whom I gathered together, I stood by the side 
of the grave while the body was being lowered to its last rest- 
ing-place, heard the dull, discordant thud of the earth upon the 
coffin, saw the hole filled up and banked over by the spades 
of the grave-diggers. Then I turned away, and left poor 
Sandy in his lonely home — the last home of the Frasers as 
well as of every one else. A year ago I was over in the cem- 
etery and had considerable trouble in finding the grave 
among the multitudes which surrounded it. When I did 
find it, however, I was surprised to see how green the sod 
was which covered it, and how gracefully the few wild flowers 
which had somehow sprung up amongst the grass, waved in 
the sweet, fresh autumn breeze. There is something in wild 
flowers which makes them seem, to me, far superior to any- 
thing which the training of the most scientific horticulturist 
can produce. They are natural and beautiful, no matter how 
much people may contemn them. They show as much grace 
in their form and structure, and as much delicacy in their 
lines, as the most gorgeous production of the conservatory. 
As I saw them then, fresh, green and lovely, crowning the 
mound beneath which poor Sandy sleeps after his stormy and 
troubled career, I could not restrain an inward prayer of rev- 
erent thankfulness to the Father of us all, who thus showed His 
care over a spot which the hand of man had completely for- 
gotten. I have often thought that, had I the means, I would 
erect a stone at the head of this grave with an inscription 
somewhat in the following strain : " Sacred to the memory 
of Alexander Fraser, Eighteenth Lord Fraser of Lovat in the 
Peerage of Scotland, who died — 18 — and was buried here in 
presence of a few of his countryn'ien." How proud Sandy 
would have been could he even have dreamt that there was 
a possibility of such a memorial being erected over his grave! 
For some recognition of his rights to the Lovat peerage was 
what he always looked for, and it was the lack of that recog- 
nition which embittered and perverted his whole life. 

I once met a smart gentleman, engaged in business on 



240 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

Broadway, who claimed to be the real Earl of Dalhousie. He 
got the notion into his head after he had passed middle life, 
and just when he was in a fair way for acquiring a competency. 
As soon as he imagined himself to be a peer, however, he be- 
gan to neglect his business, with the usual result. When I 
met him in his office, its sole occupant besides himself was 
a boy, and the whole place had that seedy look which is com- 
mon to warehouses in a state of decline, as well as to men 
who have seen better days. But he worked as hard as ever, 
harder in fact, and the evidence of his labors was to be seen 
in the piles of manuscript which littered the shelves' of his pri- 
vate office. I do not know what has become of him, but sup- 
pose he has, in theexpresive commercial phrase, ''gone under" 
and is knocking out existence as a clerk in some store where 
he was known in his more prosperous years. At all events, 
when I passed the building, the other day, in which his ware- 
house used to be, I noticed that his sign was gone and an- 
other bearing a stange name occupied its place. I never 
learned anything as to the merits of his claim, but even at 
the best they must have been very slight. The wonder to 
me was that a shrewd, cool-headed business man such as 
he undoubtedly at one time was could not have calculated 
all the chances of the matter better than he did. He sacri- 
ficed a good, comfortable business to follow an ignis-fatuus^ 
and the result was ruin. Now, had he tried, he might have 
foreseen this end. For even although his claim had been al- 
most perfect, every stage in the progress of recovery would 
be bitterly contested in the law courts, and even before a 
final decision could have been given in his favor so many 
years w^ould have necessarily elapsed that his personal enjoy- 
ment of the honor would be of brief duration, even if its 
possession would have given him any enjoyment at all. In 
the course of the proceedings his means would have been 
spent, his time engrossed, and he would have suffered heart- 
breakings enough to have sent stouter men than he down to 
their graves in sorrow and misery. 

Jimmy Erskine was quite a different sort of a character, 
although he boasted of being no less a personage than the 
Right Honorable the Earl of Mar, Earl of Kellie, Baron 
Dirleton, Viscount Fenton, and a Baronet of Nova Scotia — 
quite a sufficient number of titles to sink a ship, as he used 
to remark when in a particularly jocular mood. Indeed, 



NOBLEMEN I HAvE KNOWN. 241 

when in his cups-which was often— Jimmy used to bestow 
one of his minor titles on whoever happened to be his boon- 
companion. But he stuck hke a leech to the two earldoms 
and the baronetcy. His story was that one of the former 
earls had been in this country and married an American 
drl jimmy was the direct descendant of this union He 
had no " documents " like most other clamiants did not 
place much faith in such things, and could hardly have kept 
any even if he had them. For Jimmy was a waif, a sad vic- 
tim to intemperance. He was born in Hester street, New 
York and learned the trade of a compositor. His office as- 
sociates were none of the best, unfortunately, and Junmy, 
easy-going, good-natured, kind-hearted Jimmy, soon became 
a slave to the cup. His friends tried to reform him, and for 
a time succeeded. He married a trim, good-looking lass, 
and for about a year life was really pleasant to him. Then 
he fell again, worse than before, and his little home— the 
last he ever had-was broken up. When the civil war com- 
menced, Jimmy volunteered and went to the front. Haid- 
tack and hard lines did not affect him much, and, although 
he bore his share in several engagements and in jnnurnera- 
ble skirmishes, he never received even a scratch. When 
peace was restored Jimmy resumed his civil career, but his 
soldiering days had completely rooted out whatever stability 
he had He worked only now and again, rarely more than 
a week at a time, and generally, even in the depths of winter, 
was thinly and raggedly clad. When he had the money he 
lodged in some one of the cheap night-houses in the neigh- 
borhood of Chatham street. When he was -broke he was 
content to seek repose in an ice-wagon or a hallway. A 
five-dollar bill seemed to burn a hole in his pocket, and 
whenever he earned one it was no sooner in his possession 
Than a spree was begun. All his chums knew when Jimmy 
was in funds, and found it an easy matter to share in 
. his success, for when he had the "^^ans nothuig delig^^^^^^^ 
him more than to treat all hands. His flush spe did not 
last very long, of course, and he was back again to his post 
of luty^and observation which was generally in Printmg- 
House'square near the statue of Franklin " the nice old gen^ 
tleman," as Jimmy used to call him. Ihere I have seen 
thirwould-be earl shivering in a February stoi^ or swelter- 
ZIZ August heat, a perfect picture of abject poverty, 



242 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 

yet always good-natured ancj seemingly happy. Sometimes 
he would disappear for a fortnight or a month, and when he 
returned would answer all inquiries by stating that he had 
been working in Hoboken or Newark or some place in New 
Jersey. Few knew that he had been serving a short term 
for drunkenness in one of the city prisons or on Blackwell's 
Island. Brooklyn he avoided as a plague spot, for he knew 
that there his forsaken wife, by her own industry as a dress- 
maker, had built up for herself a comfortable home, and her 
son — his son — was occupying a responsible position as a clerk 
in a large bank. He never saw his wife after his return from 
the South, and would not have known his son, the heir to all 
his titles, though he had met him. I tried hard to get Jim- 
my to reform, for he had many good qualities in spite of all 
his faults, but failed every time. I once offered to send him 
to an institution, but he declined and coolly assured me that 
'' ten cents would be of more use to him at the present time." 
I procured him employment times without number, and ob- 
tained any amount of promises of amendment. But it was 
no use ; as soon as he got a few dollars in his hands he went 
off on a hard, steady drinking bout. 

I missed him for a long time one summer, longer than 
usual, even though he had been ''working in Jersey," 
and began inquiring about him among some of his old 
chums who were sunning themselves in the City Hall Park. 
From them I learned that Jimmy had been found in a 
covered truck, stiff and dead, one morning about two months 
before, and they supposed he had been buried in Potter's 
Field. All this I afterwards found to be only too true. 
Jimmy had joined his titled ancestors in the unknown world. 
He was his own worst enemy, and, but for his one beselting 
sin or fault, would have been as honorable an Earl of Mar as 
most of those who have sported that title. But his end was 
a sad one for any human being of whatever degree. 

Malcolm Alexander was one of the most amiable, unas- 
suming and studious young men I ever met. It was quite a 
pleasure to hold a conversation with him, he was so intelli- 
gent and well read, giving his opinions freely yet not pre- 
sumptuously, and with an air of honesty which seemed to be 
natural to him. I met him first in a law office on Broadway, 
and his industry and amiability as well as his knowledge of 
his profession had won him the respect, aye, even the love of 



NOBLEMEN I HAVE KNOWN. 243 

his superiors and fellow-clerks. I had "known him for a con- 
siderable time — a year probably — before he spoke to me of 
the great and consuming burden of his life, his claim to the 
Stirling peerage. According to his story, he was not the 
first of his family to possess this notion. His grandfather 
had contested the same claim in the Scottish courts, and 
was not only defeated, but was actually tried for forgery in 
connection with the case. I remembered reading about 
that trial, but had forgotten many of its details until I met 
Malcolm. He told me that after being acquitted the former 
claimant was practically a ruined man, and his life closed 
after a hard struggle against not only poverty but also 
obloquy. His son, or one of his sons, came to this country, 
and after his father's death quietly assumed the title in his 
own family circle and among his immediate friends, just for 
the sake of keeping the claim alive. He appears to have 
been an easy-going, good-natured sort of personage, with 
little of the heroic in his composition, certainly not enough 
to make him risk his life and happiness on so shadowy an 
honor as this earldom. Malcolm was exactly the opposite. 
He was always slow to take up a position, but once he did he 
never wavered from it. As soon as he became convinced 
that his father was an earl, and he the heir, he determined 
to work for securing his rights. This led him to apply him- 
self to his law studies with an avidity which far surpassed 
that of the majority of clerks. While his father lived 
Malcolm assumed the title of Viscount Canada, but the 
death of the parent, a short time before I met the son, had 
made the latter earl, viscount and all the rest of it. He had 
the whole history of the Alexander family at his finger-ends, 
and rattled over the names of its chiefs from Somerled, 
Lord of the Isles, down to his own accession. Dates were 
mere play-toys to him in this matter, and he had brooded 
over the real or fancied histories of the different chiefs until 
they assumed wonderful proportions in his eyes. There 
never was such a family, according to his notions, as that 
of the Alexanders, and their old residence of Menstrie 
House, in his estimation, was the Mecca of Scotland. The 
founder of the title, the first earl, he regarded as the grand- 
est of all the poets of the later Elizabethan period, and 
furnished the brains which gave poetic fame to King James, 
Drummond of Hawthornden, Ben Jonson and the more 



244 SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTS. 



famous .English writers of that day. And so on would 
Malcolm ramble, extravagant and irrational wherever the 
Alexanders were concerned, but on all other topics perfectly 
calm, logical; intelligent and open to conviction. He once 
showed me his pedigree and allowed me to examine the 
proofs in his possession ; and although I pointed out many 
weak links in the chain, he remained unshaken by my 
doubts. The same weak evidence which had so nearly trans- 
ported his grandfather as a felon was all used by him, but 
he considered he had strengthened it by additional docu- 
ments he had found and facts he had collected. I could not 
encourage him to believe I was impressed with any of these, 
but he remained as firm and immovable as a granite boulder. 
If he had had the means he would have brought the matter 
into the courts, but he was as poor as Job. At one time he 
conceived the idea of giving as wide a publicity to his claims 
as possible by organizing a joint-stock company to furnish 
the means of prosecution ; but I managed to dispossess his 
mind of any hopes of success in that line. I asked him 
where were the estates which were to recoup the stock- 
holders after victory had been won, and his legal knowledge 
forced him to admit that none now existed. The first earl 
had died a bankrupt. He owned at no time very much real 
estate in Britain. He held grants of land including nearly 
the whole of Canada, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Con- 
necticut, Rhode Island, and away West beyond the Mississippi. 
But neither the United States nor the Dominion of Canada 
would, if they could, allow the claims of his heirs. Where, 
then, was the property? He could not answer, and in 
despair abandoned the joint-stock idea, although with great 
reluctance. A year or two later Malcolm fell into a decline, 
and soon after began, almost visibly, to " dwyne away." The 
manner in which he brooded over his lowering prospects 
assisted the disease, and he died a victim to consumption. 
But even the prospect of death did not turn his mind from 
the theory which had so long influenced him, and almost the 
last words he uttered were of regret that he had not been 
spared long enough to have had a son to carry on the struggle. 
The thought that he was the last of his race seemed to em- 
bitter the end. 

Of course I have met other <* noblemen," spurious 
brands, some of whom figured in police courts and were as 



A 



NOBLEMEN I HAVE KNOWN. 245 

thorough scamps as ever traded upon the gullibility or weak- 
ness of the public; but the men I have written about, what- 
ever their faults, were at least honest. Three of them were 
reputable citizens, and two at least might have won both 
wealth and honor had it not been for the unfortunate craze 
which somehow or other got possession of them. 



THE END. 



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